Foundlings
by Plesiosaur
Summary: What if Joshua and Margaret hadn't found baby Finn that day? What if someone else had happened across him instead? Coincidence? Someone is messing with time in Ooo again and now everything is different, there's a shadowy threat stalking the land and no obvious heroes to save the day. Heavily AU, now complete!
1. Chapter 1

**This started out as a means of staying sane during the long downtime hours on world's most awful job, then it was something to entertain my girlfriend with. She's a massive Adventure Time fan and got me watching the show, which got me back to writing fanfic. Wow but it's been a while since I did something fandom based. I hope you enjoy the fruits of my labour!**

 **So it goes without saying that this is heavily AU and therefore the character relationships you're used to in canon may well not apply. For example, a character may end up with a sibling relationship rather than a romantic relationship with someone, or a parent/child relationship rather than a friendship. I don't own any of the characters you recognise, if you're not sure who the hell someone is then chances are I made them up. Writing OCs is surprisingly fun and yes one of them is based on my own dad. Try to guess which, it's actually not difficult.**

 _ *****_ _ ****Content Warning:**_ **If you are uncomfortable with graphic descriptions of same sex relationships then this is not the fic for you. There will also be a fair amount of swearing, violence and some murder in this story as well as a lot of people falling asleep. Idk I just use that plot device a lot. *Shrugs* Also bear in mind that at the time of posting (July 2015) the miniseries hasn't been released and it may well render half of what I've written obsolete. I thought about not posting for that reason but I still want to share this anyway, so if it doesn't match what's been established as canon then just read it as an AU.**

 **Still here? Awesome. Don't forget to leave a review, authors live for the crumbs of approval you throw them. Enjoy!**

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"Mom?"

His voice was quiet, almost timid, but there was no way she'd have missed it; not even if she'd been sleeping like the dead. It was one of the four voices her sensitive ears were always straining to listen for, always with the nagging fear in the back of her mind that one day those voices could be calling for her full of pain or hurt.

She sighed and carefully placed the book she'd been reading on to the top of the night stand, sitting straighter to face her youngest son. Of course she'd known the instant he entered the room but she'd been so engrossed in her reading that she'd allowed him to think he'd sneaked up on her until he spoke. He seemed vaguely disappointed; probably that he'd not managed to make her jump. _Joke's on you, little man. Nothing makes me jump._

Cool eyes assessed the boy standing at the edge of her bed. He was hesitant and fidgety, nibbling his bottom lip a little; a nervous gesture he'd picked up from her. She'd always been able to read him with a glance and from the looks of things he wasn't here to confess eating the last of her strawberries again. It was a serious conversation that was on his mind and for one horrifying moment she wondered if they were about to have The Talk. It felt like just yesterday he was running around in a diaper, surely it wasn't quite time for the birds and bees? Where had all the time gone, those ten years that had rushed past when she wasn't looking? But she forced her face to relax into gentle lines and used her softest voice, the way she might if coaxing an injured animal.

"So what's up, little guy? You look like you want to ask me something pretty big; is there something bothering you?" She tilted her head a little, still gazing intently at him as she gestured for him to sit at end of the bed.

He smiled his handsome smile and plopped himself down onto the mattress across from her, crossed legged and trying very hard to look casual. It was sweet really, the way he was trying to act so cool, but he was fooling nobody. Especially not the woman who'd raised him. He fidgeted with the ends of his waist length braid and twirled the long hair over and over between his fingers nervously. It made her nervous too, he was usually so boisterous and carefree. Normally he was dressed every inch the perfect little gentleman but he was wearing one of his godfather's old shirts today, belted at the waist like a tunic although on the giant man it would have been more like a muscle vest; she presumed he'd been outside playing with his siblings and not wanted to get his nice clothes dirty. Distractedly she wondered where he'd gotten that kind of neatness from; certainly it wasn't one of her defining features. He smelled like sunshine and trees and sweat, like the kind of gloriously carefree childhood days she'd always wanted him to have. It was good to know he was happy, good to know she hadn't messed everything up the way she'd been so terrified of doing at first. She snagged a stray leaf from his hair and he smiled sheepishly.

"Can I have a hug?"

He whispered the words in embarrassment but before they were even fully out of his mouth she was stretching out her arms, letting him scoot across the bed and snuggle up close, resting his head on her shoulder. It wasn't like him to seek out this kind of close comfort; with puberty breathing hard down his neck he was suddenly shy of expressions of parental affection. It made her worry for him but she could feel the steady pulse of his heart under his tanned skin and feel that he was relaxing as she held him; it couldn't be anything too awful. She waited patiently for him to speak but he just held on, sighing a little.

"Is something bothering you, honey?" she asked again, pressing a light kiss to his hair.

"Well it's uhh- I don't want you to be angry."

"Little man, I promise I will never be angry with you for something you didn't do on purpose. Did someone upset you?"

He shook his head no, pressing his warm face against the skin of her neck and taking a calming breath. She tried not to be frustrated with the worry she felt for him; what had gotten her usually rowdy son so quiet and thoughtful?

"Wanted to ask you a question." he finally mumbled in embarrassment. She could feel the heat of his blush radiating into her skin.

She considered the options for what that question could be and oh yes this was definitely headed for a birds and bees kind of conversation, wasn't it? She cringed internally; she always figured she'd have more time for this sort of thing, he was only just eleven! But he was growing fast and she supposed it was better to have it out of the way before puberty really kicked in. Right then, birds and bees. Sex stuff. She tried to compose herself because being awkward and making a big deal out of it wouldn't do either of them any favours. She just hoped that the first thing out of his mouth was not going to be something about herself and her own intimate experiences; she wasn't comfortable sharing that with him.

"Well," she eventually managed to reply in a calm voice, "unless that question is about the best way to hurt someone or do something you know is wrong, you can ask me anything and you know I'll be honest with you. I promise."

He nodded against her shoulder and shivered a little, it must be a pretty scary question for him to be afraid she'd be angry. But angry about sex questions? _Why would he think I'd be angry about that?_ She frowned to herself and let her hand rest against his long silky hair. Perhaps it wasn't about sex after all. _If anyone has hurt my boy there'll be hell to pay._

He was still trying to find his words, eyes downcast and suddenly terribly interested in the muck under his fingernails. She was aware of two more faces peeping around the corner of the bedroom door and motioned them forward with a knowing and relieved smile. Of course they were all here, they never went anywhere alone if they could help it. But it was reassuring; how much trouble could he be in if he was with his brother and sister?

"Come on then guys, I should have known you'd all be in this together."

She patted the quilt invitingly and was unable to suppress a grin when she realised that the other two had probably put him up to asking whatever it was and risking her wrath rather than asking themselves. Little monsters; their brother was far too much a gentleman to say no to them. Maybe he'd been pranked into it, or possibly lost a bet, but most likely they'd just told him to go ask her. When she thought about how else things might have panned out she came to the conclusion that they hadn't raised such a shabby family, all things considered. The other two wrestled in the doorway for a second over who would enter first until her confident little daughter caught her elder brother in a headlock and shoved him back, only muttering a sullen and completely dishonest apology when she caught the stern look her mother was giving her. They settled on the bed next to their younger brother, two boys and a girl, all with identical little blue gems on a chain around their necks. Two little princes and a princess.

The girl turned her fierce eyes on her younger brother and when he still didn't spit his question out she elbowed him sharply in the ribs.

"Mom. Uh. We were talking about it last night, ah, and we think we're old enough now. Especially- well, you know. I'm old enough too." He added it uncertainly, rubbing the side of his neck self consciously exactly the same way she did when she felt kinda dumb. When had he started copying her gestures? She'd not really noticed he did that before but he'd probably been doing it for years, probably didn't even realise he was mirroring her. "You said once we felt old enough handle the upsetting parts we could hear it all. And we think we are." The others nodded in consensus, straining to look solemn and very grown up. She bit back another smile. "I know we've talked about it before, but will you tell us about how it all happened? And after? We wanted to hear it again from the beginning without any of the sad or nasty parts left out."

Ah. Yeah it was gonna be a long and hard conversation. But _thank Glob_ at least there would be no awkward sex questions unless the story got very much out of her control, she could breathe easily about that for at least a little while longer. Settling her hands in her lap she surveyed the three curious faces staring intently at her. Considered. Tried _so_ hard to maintain responsible adult status but it was just too good an opportunity to pass up.

"So far as I remember it, I was in the woods one night. You all know what a keen gardener I am; I was watering my prize winning cabbages when the biggest cabbage of all popped open and out fell three little babies-"

"Mom!" three outraged voices howled in unison. "Tell it properly!"

"Ok, ok! No cabbages! And no storks." She let her impish grin fade a little as she considered what it was they were asking to hear. All of it. Even the really ugly parts, even the parts where she'd acted like a spoiled drama queen. Even when people had been hurt, died. There wasn't any way around those parts and they deserved to know the truth about where they came from. It was not going to be an easy story to tell.

"You guys will have to bear with me for some of it though, even if it was years ago it's still pretty upsetting for me. Especially when I thought I was never going to see you again. And it's a long story."

She paused to let the impact of her words soak in. Her daughter was frowning, looking genuinely solemn; if she knew her impulsive little girl at all then she'd not even spared a thought that anyone else might be upset by the story. Her eldest son had his characteristic sensitive look in place, brows furrowed a little and an arm stretched protectively across each of his siblings' shoulders as though he could snatch them back and protect them if the words got too harsh for their delicate young ears. He'd always been so protective, they were lucky to have such a wonderful brother. Her youngest was biting his lip and nodding, straining to appear as mature as possible in case she decided he was still too young to hear it all. She tried her hardest not to laugh; it made him look a little constipated rather than grown up. But he _was_ growing, despite being the youngest he was growing up fast and he did deserve to know how he came to be who he was. They all did. She nodded, decision made. Almost in a way glad they'd come to her to hear it, she was less likely to get lost in a tangent while explaining. She let her ears tune into the somewhat frenzied scratch of a pen from the study next door; with the speed it was moving she was confident that they'd only be interrupted if there was some kind of natural disaster or the roof caved in or something. That was good, she didn't want to have to go back to the start and explain again.

"Ok. Alright. We'll do this like we did when you guys were little, yeah? I think it'll be easier for us all to hear it if it's part of a bedtime story. So. Just like bedtimes?"

They nodded, three eager smiles back in place. They were just waiting for their cue now and for a moment she could almost see them all as little toddlers again, eyes wide and awed as she described dragons and mermaids and knights. The bedtime ritual they'd all become so used to came easily, words flowing from her lips like she'd never stopped speaking them every single night.

"Ok kids, get your butts settled and get ready to listen as hard as you can. What time is it?"

"Story Time!"

They all yelled it together. Until they'd decided en masse that they were far too old for stories they'd done this every single night, it had always been the highlight of her day. Story Time had been about good heroes and evil monsters, sometimes about good monsters who were really heroes, about how people became families and how important it was to be good to each other. So this wasn't really outside of the remit of Story Time, it pretty much had all of those things at some point or another.

"You know it all started over ten years ago. I wasn't the person I am now, so please just remember that when we get to the parts of the story where I act like a total buttface, yeah? I was a mess. You would barely recognise me, except that I look exactly the same. But I was directionless and angry and I was probably the moodiest and most immature person you could be unfortunate enough to meet. And of course I was alone, I'd donked up the only relationship I'd ever cared about."

They all nodded to show they'd understood and her eldest son took her hand and briefly squeezed it, offering his emotional support if it all got too much for her. Such a kind, sensitive boy. She smiled at him before returning to the story.

She closed her eyes for a second and let the words come as they would, thinking back with perfect clarity to the very beginning of it all.

"It was a dark night. Not stormy, it'd been pretty nice weather for a while before. It was the middle of a particularly warm summer; I remember that there'd been so many hot sunny days and so little rain folk had begun worrying about forest fires..."


	2. Chapter 2

**Next chapter, hot on the heels of the introduction! Because I couldn't just leave it there.**

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He couldn't remember ever having been so cold and it was almost but not quite bad enough to numb the hunger pains churning in his belly. His throat burned from crying; hours ago he'd been a sick on himself with distress but still nobody had come to comfort him. He'd never experienced anything like this in his short life and he'd given up on yelling for help, he lay shivering in limp resignation. It was dark now and he whimpered in fear at the small rustling noises of a living forest at night. There were _things_ out there. It was too dark to see much of anything but his fevered imagination wouldn't rest; remembering every terror from every nightmare he'd ever had. _Things_ , crawling through the night towards him, tiny legs clicking sharply across his exposed flesh. He shuddered and wailed again but nobody replied. He'd given up expecting that anyone would come.

Somehow he'd tumbled down a small bank and landed dazed in a clump of bushes, he hadn't been able to see far in the damp foliage even before sunset and now night had fallen fully, soaking him in dew and freezing his exposed skin until his teeth chattered. He hadn't mastered walking more than a few steps yet and crawling hadn't done him any good; he was sore and bruised from the many times he'd fallen over trying to find someone. Crying was no good. Crawling was no good. He didn't know how to do anything else. Various creatures had come across him earlier but they'd all passed by, even when he cried out and reached up to them they turned their heads away and kept walking. He lay in abject misery, hazy memories of warmth and comfort tormenting him. Alone, confused and terrified he did the only other thing he instinctively could for comfort; he stuck his little fleshy thumb in his mouth and sucked, squeezing his eyes shut and slipping into fearful half dreams.

...

Another night slid silently across the land and just as it had for months now the same dark shape drifted aimlessly above the treetops, blotting out the stars in a formless inky darkness that was somehow blacker than the regular shadows. Black shape on dark sky, both melancholy and ominous. A casual watcher could mistake the slumped form for a low flying cloud until it came closer and resolved into a young woman with pale grey skin and spiritless green eyes, tangled mane of dark hair billowing behind her like a visible aura of despair. Just hovering over the treetops, going nowhere in particular, she was like a spirit of pure misery hanging over the forest.

Marceline supposed she could have stayed home but staring at the same four walls all night in vain hopes that something interesting might happen held equally less appeal than flying aimlessly and besides she hadn't fed in days; her hunger pains were beyond being ignored now. Sighing, she pulled another bright red toadstool from her pocket and drained the colour from it without even looking at what she was doing. She tossed the now grey fungus casually behind herself, distantly enjoying the sharp burn of the toxins as they fizzed harmlessly against her teeth. Toadstools weren't her favourite thing in the world but they would do for now, she didn't really want to go crazy with hunger and hurt anyone. She huffed and allowed herself to drift almost back to earth, boots just scuffing the top of the ground. It was an effort to stay in the air, an effort to even lift her arms. Everything felt like an effort these days, like she was weighed down with a heavy cloak of indifference that draped across her shoulders and almost crushed her under its load.

She technically could drain every last drop of hot blood from every creature in the entire forest, the rules were different when it came to blood. Red was just as good but a vampire was a vampire and blood had been their main food source; there would always be a small part of her that remembered that. But Marcy disliked the flavour now and she preferred food that didn't scream and smack her in the face all through dinner. Nobody really got why she was a vegetarian these days and she was done with trying to explain, people'd just have to draw whatever conclusions they wanted. Most ended up assuming it was some ridiculous quirk of alignment that meant she was actually a wonderfully good person underneath all the grunge and directionless anger. She just got sick of having to wrestle her dinner and too much blood made her feel bloated and sluggish. Besides people tended to be angry and kinda homicidal when they remembered what vampires had historically eaten, she'd lost count of the number of places she'd been driven out from just because she was a vampire. No matter that she hadn't drank a drop of real blood in centuries, people had long memories when it came to things that walked the night and murdered indiscriminately. She supposed she was risking it even being in the Candy forest; it'd be just like Bonnie to get all bent out of shape just because someone took a dislike to her existence and tattled on her. She'd end up in a dungeon some place as a punishment and Glob knew what Bonnie would do with her in the long run. Since she was immortal except for a stake through the heart or decapitation and the sugary little princess was far too prissy to sanction capital punishment even for the worst criminals, Marceline didn't even have death to look forward to. Maybe she'd just be left to rot for centuries. Typical Bonnie to completely forget her sense of humour and overreact to something harmless-

With a small snarl Marceline pushed that line of thought ruthlessly out of her mind. It was six months since their latest in a long string of break ups, six months of wanting to put her fist through the wall every time she heard Bonnie's name or thought about her or remembered how badly she'd fucked up this time. She had a strict no thinking about Bonnie policy and she'd gotten really good at pretending that she was happy being alone, she thought. In truth it wasn't fooling anyone, not even herself if she was being totally honest. She wasn't sure how to even be herself any more, too much of who she thought she'd been was wrapped up in her identity as part of a couple; albeit a secret one. They'd been friends for hundreds of years. On off lovers for the last century or so. And now without warning she was pushed out into the cold for something she couldn't even begin to apologise for, still struggled to wrap her head around despite her supernatural memory. It was an argument like any other and somehow it had gotten out of hand and then the next thing she knew she was throwing her possessions into a bag and leaving through a window and Bonnie was screaming at her to just please _please come back_ and of course she hadn't because she refused to be the one to give in and apologise this time. She hadn't meant to stay away so long but every time she'd snuck back carefully hidden or invisible Bonnie had sensed she was there after a short while and thrown something at her. So she took the message; you left it too long. Don't come back this time. Creeping around the palace being invisible wasn't her style anyway, she didn't want anyone to think she was lonely or some other emotional shit like that. Bonnie was a nice girl but she was so uptight, Marceline just knew she could do better. That's what she'd been trying to tell herself for the last six months. _Yeah you're doing a fantastic job of that aren't you? Truth is you don't deserve her, you don't deserve anyone._ The voice at the back of her head reminded her that she couldn't lie to herself; it sounded just like Ash had when he'd told her that she was worthless and deserved misery. At least she was in no danger of forgetting it now.

Deep down Marceline supposed she really did deserve to be alone. She had never ever been good enough for Bonnibel, always her dirty little secret for fear that her sugary little subjects would get 'the wrong idea'. Marceline had never been entirely sure what exactly the wrong idea might be but if it was the perfectly true idea that their saintly pink princess was secretly fucking a dangerous vampire then that was pretty much the right idea as far as she could see. Still she couldn't shake the feeling that Bonnie was better off without her; now she was finally out of her life maybe she'd find a nice sugary man to settle down with and pop out a brood of obnoxious pink kids. The thought turned Marceline's stomach and she dropped the toadstool she'd been contemplating with a sour grimace.

She'd tried to ignore the bald truth of it but it crept into her consciousness nevertheless; Marcy was more completely alone than she ever had been in her whole life, not even when she'd been small had it been like this. Simon had looked after her, then her Dad had come with his dubious hit-and-miss parenting and by the time she'd become a vampire there'd been a small but trusted group of friends who'd ran with her. Now those friends were either long dead or thousands of miles away and not a single soul in the whole of Ooo gave half a crap what happened to her. She didn't want to spend all her time thinking about Bonnie but _not_ thinking about her was just as impossible as not thinking about herself, or not thinking about the moon when she flew under its light. And just as they had every single night for the last six months the same thoughts cycled through her brain with the same violent results, making her feel sick to the stomach and angry enough to rip the entire forest down with her bare hands, the weight of her misery forgotten under the angry pressure building in her limbs.

Marceline snarled again, louder. It was cathartic in a way, although she hated herself to new and interesting depths when she let the anger take over because she hated to lose control. Her fingers shape shifted unconsciously into long sharp claws and her face twisted into the furious she-wolf. She drove a heavily booted foot hard into the thick trunk of the nearest tree with a resounding _thunk_ and cursed loudly as a burning agony raced along her leg. She'd shattered the bones in her ankle into a thousand fragments but thanks to her damned healing reflexes they quickly reassembled themselves and knit back together. She hadn't meant to heal the injury; she wasn't honouring promises made under duress. It was easy for a vampire to get addicted to pain as a coping mechanism during hard times but she'd promised Bonnie centuries ago never to deliberately hurt herself again. When damage was instantly reversible it was all too easy to get hooked on the adrenaline rush that self-harming provided and she wanted that rush right now, wanted to forget looking into rose coloured eyes and promising faithfully.

" _I'll never do it again. Ever. I only hurt myself when I'm miserable and when I'm with you I'm not miserable. So this is me, promising_."

Perhaps subconsciously she still wanted to at least try to be good enough for Bonnibel; she'd healed the wound instantly then cursed herself for a fool. The damn Candy woman was so far into her head she'd even gotten Marceline doing voluntary things as reflexes, keeping promises she'd never really meant in the first place.

The pain was only a very brief relief anyway and after a minute the adrenaline passed and left her shaking and more frustrated than ever, drained and feeling intensely stupid. She stared at the deep gash she'd left in the wood as a long lost voice echoed sadly in her head. _"Vandalism is wrong, Marcy_." What would Simon have said if he could see how she was behaving now? He'd be so ashamed; Simon had raised her to respect herself and her surroundings better than that. He'd always met her angry outbursts with calm logic and taught her to resolve her problems with her brain and not her unnaturally strong fists. _He'd be ashamed of you, like everyone else. You just keep on letting everyone down, don't you, Marcy?_

A flush of shame coloured her grey cheeks as she let her features fall back to humanoid and claws recede back to regular fingernails. She missed Simon so much it hurt, right now she could have used one of his very best make-it-better hugs; the way he'd comfort her after she fell and cut her knee or woke from a nightmare. But he was lost to her, had been for centuries. She mourned for her long lost father-figure for a moment and cursed the damn ice crown under her breath. It had saved his life and no doubt plenty of people would have considered that worth the cost of his sanity. She didn't; it was shameful to admit but she'd wished Simon had died instead of become that twisted shell of himself. It felt like a knife twisting up her guts whenever she accidentally ran into him now, when he stared at her with blank eyes and didn't respond to his own name. No matter how much Marcy was hurting she couldn't bring herself to go visit what he'd become. She wasn't as desperate or masochistic as that just yet but she could feel it wouldn't be long before she'd pay him a visit just to torture herself further. A visit with Simon always brought the tears bubbling unbidden to the surface; maybe she just needed to cry and she'd feel better despite how much she despised crying in front of anyone. Simon wouldn't tell on her though, Simon wouldn't remember that she'd even been there after an hour or two. That knowledge could have been comforting under the right circumstances but it just hurt more to think of it, another dull ache of loss to add to the growing collection in her chest.

Marceline's anger cooled and slowly turned back to melancholy as she stared at the hole she'd kicked through the base of the massive candy tree. Sugary sap was already beginning to well around the ripped bark and she lay a hand against the ancient trunk in silent apology. It was nearly as old as she was, a wonder of nature more beautiful than she could ever be and she'd broken it in a burst of childish fury. She suppressed a shiver as the sorrow and frustration overwhelmed her, hot tears welling in the corner of her eyes no matter how she tried to hold them in. No, she'd been wrong. She didn't need to cry. She felt just as awful as she had a moment ago but now her throat was burning and her eyes blurred. Centuries of bitter experience had taught her that there was only one really effective way to work her feelings out when they got so overwhelming; so long as nobody was watching, couldn't judge her for the emotions she expressed. With a quick glance around to check nobody had seen her outburst and a swipe at her cheek to hide the traitorous tears she headed to her usual haunt in the Candy woods, an old black walnut tree with twisted limbs and thick branches, excellent views all around to make sure nobody was there to see her shameful performance. Just to be on the safe side she drifted higher into the canopy and let the colour fade from her body; not quite true invisibility but not really there either; tonight she'd be a wraith, haunting the forest with her sound but not really having to own it. Just in case.

She pulled her worn axe bass from where it was strapped securely to her back and settled into a comfortable hover above the moonlit branches, allowing her consciousness to wander as it would while her hindbrain worked on the melody. Bonnibel had once called her "frustratingly mercurial" and she supposed that was accurate; she felt better already just having an instrument in her hands. It didn't completely rid her of the sensation that her chest had been crushed by the weight of her sorrow but it was better than it had been, she could at least think about what had happened without breaking things. Her long fingers flew along the strings in fluid movements that she'd practised to reflex long ago, tuning, checking, settling into a rhythm while her mind wandered over last time she'd seen her lover. The night Bonnie had thrown her out for good after another magnificently huge row. They'd broken up more times than she could count and both tried to make it work with other people in the past but it never lasted long and they'd always drifted back together after a while. But not this time. This time she'd managed to push Bonnie way past her breaking point, she shuddered to even think about the things she'd said that night. Most of it was an angry blur but she was pretty sure she'd called the love of her life a dirty cheating little whore, no better than a used fucktoy. Told her she was disgusting, told her to go spread her whore legs for anyone she pleased because she wasn't worth a damn more than that. In the cold light of the full moon it was plain to see that Bonnie had never invited anyone to flirt with her; their relationship was private and most people assumed she was single so it was understandable that suitors pursued her. But she didn't have to smile at them and thank them for gifts right in front of Marceline. It made her teeth grind angrily and that night it had just all boiled over. Because 'private' was a nice way of saying 'dirty secret' and she was sick of being everyone's dirty secret; sick of having to hide every time someone came into the room unexpectedly, sick of being kicked out before dawn every morning. But remembering those awful words she'd said, remembering the expression on Bonnibel's face, like she'd been slapped, it made Marceline want to rip her own skin off with the shame of it.

When things had been desperate in the far distant past Marceline had run to Bonnibel, the only person good enough and forgiving enough to help her. Now she had to work out who she was on her own and that was a really frightening prospect. She remembered the night she'd broken up with Ash after a few tumultuous months of arguing and making up and arguing again. It amazed her with hindsight that she'd ever thought he was a good prospect; honestly he was such a jerk it made her cringe to remember being in the same room with him. Bonnie had laughed at her and said she was hurting nobody but herself by taking off with an arrogant sexist moron and that it wouldn't last six months. She was right. In the end Marcy had turned up on Bonnie's balcony, she'd meant to tell her that she was leaving for good but the princess had been equal parts provocative and confrontational and in the end Marceline had all but mauled the other woman as she worked her anger and frustration out the only way she could. Next morning Bonnie had gotten up and gone about her princess duties with a satisfied smirk on her face as she pulled a high necked shirt over the deep puncture marks on her neck and shoulder and Marceline had just stayed in the castle, waiting for her in her rooms when she returned that evening. She'd had nowhere else to go and Bonnie knew it, they'd fallen back into their old patterns without even really talking about it. And Marceline was sick in the head, she must be because she remembered that as one of the best nights of her life, the night when she'd been forced to beg, forced to be humble and apologetic.

The melody she had unconsciously picked worked its way to her mouth and words formed of their own accord. She smiled a little sadly as she recognised a song Simon had often sung quietly to himself. It had taken her another two hundred years to stumble across the record that track had come from, she'd always thought Simon had written it about Betty. It hurt in an almost good way and she let the words flow in halfway through the verse.  
 _  
"Trouble,  
Oh trouble can't you see,  
You have made me a wreck  
Now won't you leave me in my misery?"_

 _"I've seen your eyes  
and I can see death's disguise  
Hangin' on me  
Hangin' on me"_

 _"I'm beat and torn  
Shattered and tossed and worn  
Too shocking to see  
Oh too shocking to see"_  
 _  
"Trouble  
Oh trouble move from me  
I have paid my debt  
Now won't you leave me in my misery?"_

Marceline let the last notes of the verse die slowly in her throat, fading quietly away into the darkness. Before she could draw breath to begin singing again a high pitched sound hit her ears, freezing her in place with her mouth half open, shock coursing through her where an instant before she'd felt only numb sadness. It was distant, some way off to her left, something subtly distinctive that she hadn't heard in almost a thousand years. The last notes of her melody scratched discordantly as her hands flattened across the strings of her bass to muffled the noise, sensitive ears straining to catch the mysterious sound again. For a few seconds she wondered if it was the famous vampire insanity catching up with her at last, just her brain turning to mush and making her hear things. But she knew what she'd heard and she had a duty to go and find out if someone was just messing with her or if the impossible was actually happening. Because years ago, centuries, before she'd even met Bonnibel and come to Ooo, she'd made a vow to protect that impossible thing she'd heard in the undergrowth. It couldn't possibly be what it sounded like. But just in case it was she had to fulfil the terms of her vow. The faces of all her dead comrades flickered before her eyes for a moment; they'd died keeping the same vows. To protect what they needed, to protect that tiny noise she'd heard.

...

There was soft, sad music drifting through the forest and it woke him with a start. Someone was there! Reaching out blindly in the darkness he made first a little enquiring noise then a louder cry, searching for the someone who must be making that soothing sound. The music was accompanied with a velvety feminine voice and it was too nice to stop, the only comforting thing he'd experienced in far too long. It left vague impressions on his mind of loss and grief and despite containing such sad feelings it was strangely reassuring; the kind of pain that he felt but expressed by someone else which meant he couldn't be the only person feeling it and that was almost comforting. He tried to wrap his brain around that concept but it was too big for him, all he knew was that the song made him feel sad in a good way, like there were flickering images of sad faces behind his eyelids. Perhaps this person was alone and cold, too. When the music abruptly ended he waited patiently for a few seconds, and then pulled his thumb out of his mouth with a little pop and let out a loud wail of protest at the continued silence. Crying hadn't been effective so far and his throat ached terribly from his many lonely hours spent bawling for help. But it was all he knew so he kept it up as best he could, stopping only to draw shuddering breaths between yells.

There was a rustling noise as tree branches were pushed aside above his head and he squinted upwards at the sharp intake of breath above him. A sharp faced woman was staring down at him, with pale greyish skin and startling green eyes and a confused frown turning otherwise elegant features fierce. He whimpered a little because she didn't look at all happy to see him but she reached down and lifted him into the air with strong arms. Her skin was uncomfortably cool against his fevered body and the muscles underneath felt as hard as forged steel. He yelled again and kicked his legs in protest, but the woman holding him didn't budge, only wrinkled her nose at his smell and the sticky leaves stuck to his messy behind, murmuring lowly to him in that same gentle voice. She held him at arm's length for what seemed to him to be a long time, eyes flicking all over him and at one point inhaling deeply, like she was searching his scent for something. He shifted uncomfortably and whined again, wriggling to try and get away from that too-direct gaze. But she just ran a cold finger across his cheek, flicking away some of his freshly fallen tears, and tucked him into the crook of her arm.

His face was pressed against something soft; he reached up to investigate and his cries turned into gurgles of delight as his chubby fist closed around a chunk of her whisper-fine hair. Following instinct he balled up fistful of hair and pushed it stickily into his mouth, sucking on it and tasting some flowery kind of soap. He made a face but didn't take the hair out of his mouth, it was nice in a funny way. They were moving smoothly and without the usual up-down motion he associated with someone carrying him, like they were flying rather than walking. It was strange but it took his mind off how sticky and uncomfortable he was; he gurgled again around the hair and his fist. The bitter air was whipping around his exposed skin and he was cold, there was no warmth bleeding through from the body he was snuggled up against.

"Shh, it's OK little one. I'm taking you some place safe, we'll get you cleaned up and see if we can find out who you belong to. You don't know it yet but I'm almost certain that you're a human and I'm going to protect you. I protect humans against other vampires, you never know who else is out here."

The silvery voice settled into a soothing hum and the strong hands tucked more soft hair around him to block out the cold. He stilled and relaxed again, content to lie in the comparative warmth his body created under his hair blanket and let the strange lady drift him along with her through the dark trees. They glided like that for a long time and his eyes began to feel itchy and heavy. Moonlight filtered through the warm sable strands that covered him, its patterns lulled him back into a deep sleep as they shifted softly across his soft face.


	3. Chapter 3

**Surprise, a new chapter! Because this is all written and redrafted several times and sitting in the drafts folder of my email ready to post and I had a very long day protecting public health mostly from the public themselves. So have a new chapter because if you had a day as long and boring as mine was then you deserve it.**

 **Also if you're still here at chapter three then you might actually like my story and that makes me so super happy. Enjoy! This chapter is dedicated to my gorgeous little goddaughter and her hilarious ways that make me laugh and want to put her in a baby Finn hat.**

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He woke again in the warm glow of lamplight, thumb back in his mouth and considerably cleaner and more comfortable than he had been for the last 24 hours. Someone had washed him clean and been careful enough not to wake him while they did it; he was no longer sticky or smelly but warm and increasingly curious. He was indoors, lying somewhere soft on his side and his skin felt wonderfully clean again; now he smelled like the strange lady's flowery soap too instead of like panic vomit and boom-boom. He lay for a while listening but there were no sounds other than the whispering of a distant breeze somewhere beyond the heavy curtains, the tinny hiss of an oil lamp burning on the dresser and the tick of a clock hanging on the wall in front of him. For a while he lay and stared at the bright coloured posters on the walls, trying to make sense of the swirls of colour and text, but after a while boredom began to nag at him.

He wiggled around, enjoying the warmth and comfort of just being inside a building again. The soft lady with the nice hair had gone away but he wasn't scared now, just increasingly fidgety. There were no strange whispers here and it was quite warm; he was finally comfortable. The strange soft lady would probably be back in the morning, or at least someone would he hoped, and he would sleep soon but now he was curious about his surroundings. He'd slept his fill for now and he was full of a burning curiosity that made his feet twitch and his eyes dart around him, searching for something to entertain himself with. He struggled upright against the heavy weight of unfamiliar clothes that had been wrapped tightly around him and discovered he was in a sort of makeshift nest of shirts and vests in the middle of a strange large bed, a towel wrapped toga style around him and another shirt knotted into a makeshift diaper around his waist with his legs sticking through the oversized arm holes. The fabric was soft and smelled flowery too, it made him think of the soft lady with the nice hair; that was comforting. She must be close by, maybe if he cried she'd come- but he sat on that instinct hard. Crying hadn't done him any good in the past, he didn't want her to be angry. So he sat quietly and tried to interest himself in the things around him.

There was nobody else about that he could see but when he turned to look behind him the long dark hair was still there, falling down from much further up in the air, the ends cascading down to pool onto the mattress just in front of his shirt nest. He smiled toothily, the hair hadn't left when the lady did! Maybe the lady would be back for it soon but it was so pretty and soft, he wanted to play with it again. With a throaty little laugh he reached out for it, intent that this time it wouldn't get away by making him warm and sleepy. _Naughty hair!_ He grabbed a handful and lifted it close to smell it again. It was still slightly soapy and flowery just like him now and it tickled his nose a little. It was nice, it reminded him of nice things and flowers and somehow it looked like rainbows even though it was so dark it almost sucked the colour in. He admired the way it shimmered in the lamplight; it was deep black but also full of shimmering colours when he moved it and it caught the light. So pretty. He stuffed some into his mouth again and chewed it for a moment or two before spitting it out stickily and watching in fascination as it fell back into the main cascade.

He tried to stand but his legs were extra wobbly. _Stop it, legs!_ he thought, but they refused to do what he asked. He looked around for leverage and tried to pull himself upright with shirts but they just collapsed onto him, coving him in a blanket of dark soft cloth. Undeterred he he struggled back to a sitting position and considered his dilemma again. The shirts were too soft and light, his legs were being naughty and the lady still hadn't come back to get the nice hair. He reached out for the only other thing in view and yanked himself upright with all his strength. His yell of victory mixed with a sharp screech of pain and then his world went temporarily dark as the silky hair suddenly collapsed all around him, making him sit down hard in confusion.

...

Marceline was dozing, she'd flown longer and faster than she'd been used to recently and since the break up she hadn't bothered to stick to a regular nocturnal schedule anyway. Hadn't really bothered to look after herself at all, hadn't slept or ate or done anything but brood and abuse her immortality. Her dreams were of happier times, a soft pink world and full of warmth and laughter and shining pale eyes the colour of summer roses, the same dreams that had tormented her for months. Without warning her skull exploded in tearing pain and she fell out of her comfortable hover with a shriek that turned into a snarl of anger as she realised she was being attacked. She whirled, face morphing into the demon wolf and claws sprouting on the finger tips again, ready to devour whichever third rate adventurer thought they could make a name for themselves by scalping the Vampire Queen-

Memory clicked back into place an instant before her jaws snapped closed to rip off a chunk of flesh and she checked herself, horrified, muzzle stretched impossibly wide and eyes staring frantically at the undeniably human baby she'd rescued in the woods. He giggled at her from where he lay breathless in a heap of her clothes and hair, reaching out a small hand and petting her teeth. She hovered a few inches above him, shock coursing through her. She had almost eaten one of the very last true humans in the whole world for pulling her hair, after she'd rescued him and vowed to protect him. As far as fuck ups went that one would have been in her top three.

Marcy shook her head and her features settled back to her more usual vampire appearance. The boy seemed quite happy thought; he clapped his plump little hands and giggled at her new face, finally recognising her as his rescuer from the woods. He stared up at her with innocent blue eyes and waved a foot at her face, poking a toe under her lip to examine the fangs underneath, shorter and rounder than they had been a moment ago but still deadly to human flesh if she wanted them to be.

"Baby, what are we going to do with you?" she murmured, brushing his foot away from her face and staring down at him with a frown. "You know I wasn't really going to eat you, right? I just got a shock, I hadn't expected you to try to pull my head off. You're probably wondering why I rescued you and if I'm being totally honest so am I. But a long time ago I took a very solemn vow to protect humans. Do you know what a vow is, baby? Stupid question, you're a baby. Mostly I promised to protect your species from other vampires but I haven't seen any of them around for a while, so I thought you could use some protection in a general sense since you were all alone and sticky. But see, the thing is I don't know where you came from, and I'm not an expert on human babies. It's been almost a millennium since I was one myself and I barely got to see any as a child before they were all- I mean, they went away, because of the Mushroom War."

She felt stupid for skirting the facts but she was suddenly uncomfortable as well as feeling rather stupid for talking to someone who couldn't reply. The death of millions of babies just like him was clearly something he was way too young to understand anyway but she was unwilling to say those grim details out loud around him, she'd picked up some vague idea somewhere that kids understood a lot more than they let on, certainly that they understood a ton more than they could articulate at that age. "Anyway," she continued, "I don't know much about babies but I do know that nobody leaves a kid as young as you alone for that long by accident. I wonder who your mother is?"

 _Was_ , she added in the privacy of her thoughts. It was the same thing that she'd been trying not to think about as she took him home but it was inescapable. _If she's still alive she either doesn't want him or is so close to death she can't even begin to search for him_. Either way it added up to the same thing, he had nobody at all in the world, not even a human tribe she could take him to. Being alone was something she was an expert on at least. That was the most she'd spoken out loud in months if she didn't count singing to herself and the necessary exchanges when buying groceries. It felt nice to have a conversation again even if it was with a baby too young to really reply.

"Mo'!" the baby yelled in recognition at the words, balling up his fists and grinning from ear to ear. "Momom!"

"She's not here, little one. I'm sorry." Marceline whispered, soothing him with a cool hand against his face. _Mom_ , a little girl with pointed grey ears whispered in her the back of her mind. _Mom, wake up. Please wake up._

Memories swirled unbidden behind her green eyes; a little girl crying on the steps of a ruined house, a dark haired woman lying too still and staring unseeingly, a stink of death and decay all around the shattered remains of her home.

"I know a few thing about what it's like to be alone and I bet she wouldn't have left you if she'd had any other choice. Mothers are good like that. Fathers... yeah, I can't speak for them. But Mothers look out for their babies."

She sighed, looking again into those clear sky blue eyes, mind travelling ever further back through the years to vague memories of a pretty woman with dark hair like her own and an infectious if nervous smile, someone who sang while she cooked and every night before bed read fairy stories and did all the voices. Someone who would never have left her daughter alone even through her final sickness, until the very last day when her eyes stopped moving and her chest stopped rising and falling.

Was this how Simon had felt when he'd found little Marcy alone and crying in the rubble of her home? She was responsible by the simple principles of being an adult and unable to see an infant in pain, so like herself at only a few years older that it made her shiver with eerie recollection. Simon had been the best thing that had ever happened to her; she remembered the way he'd held her and sang her to sleep, he'd given her the meagre scraps of food he could find even if it meant going hungry for days himself. He'd raised her, in the few short years they'd travelled together before his madness took over. He'd been her best friend. This boy was just as alone as she'd been and she was the adult now and she had made a vow all those years ago to stop humans dying, and didn't this count too? He was a human and he'd probably be dead or near death now if she hadn't taken him home. She stroked her cold hand across his wispy golden hair possessively, marvelling at how trustingly he nuzzled against her palm. It was a little selfish, she knew that deep down. Selfish because she was lonely and he was too young to leave, selfish because she wanted to know there was someone who cared no matter how badly she messed up. He was helpless without her and it felt good to be needed by someone. Important to someone. Maybe she could be important back. With a small jolt Marceline realised she'd not brooded about Bonnie or their break up since she'd first heard him cry in the woods.

"You're mine now." she whispered, picking him up and holding him close. "You're like me, you're alone. And now we have each other so we're not alone anymore. I promise I'll take care of you." She took a deep breath of his warm scent and committed it to memory. A surge of possessiveness ran through her; she would rip the throat out of anyone who tried to take him from her now. His hair was still a little damp from the bath she'd carefully given him while he slept and she flicked her eyes to the oil lamp. It gave a little heat but not enough for such a small body, she couldn't really judge ambient temperature very well anyway. It wouldn't do to let him catch a cold; she had no idea where to find chicken soup these days. "Shall we put your pretty hat back on, baby boy? I don't want your head to get cold." she murmured, reaching for the little white bear hat that was the only stitch of clothing he'd had on when she found him.

Marcy fiddled with it, trying to see which way was the best to fit it snugly over his head. It had slid off easily enough when she'd bathed him but she didn't want to catch his ears in it or pull his hair putting it back on. Something on the inside rim caught her eye and she frowned, holding it closer to read the name embroidered in tiny hand on the inside of the hat.

"Well looks like someone saved me the trouble of naming you, anyway. It's a real shame because I thought you looked like you'd suit Romulus Hercules Abadeer, but your name is pretty cute too and way easier to spell." she smiled, folding the little hat into her lap and staring thoughtfully into space for a second. With a sly grin she hadn't worn in six months Marceline took his little hand between two pale fingers and shook it in the manner of a monarch making a new acquaintance at a formal function. "May I introduce you to myself, Marceline Abadeer, Queen of the Vampires, daughter of the Lord of Evil and punk rock legend. I'm most proud of that last one. It's my pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mr Finn Mertens. You're supposed to bow but I'll let you off this once."

He burbled back at her and smiled adorably; scrunching up his face and nose like they were made of peach coloured marshmallow and making her laugh her first true laugh in months.

...

About the same time the sun peaked its head above the horizon Marceline yawned into her hand and sleepily petted baby Finn on the head.

"Time for bed, little guy. I guess you'll have to get one of your own soon enough, but you can sleep in my laundry fort for now."

She smiled tiredly at the way he giggled and clung upside down from her arm like a baby monkey. Her heart tightened painfully to think that if she hadn't found him he might still be all alone in the woods or half way along a wolf's intestines by now. And it was weird, she'd not really thought about anyone else's feelings in so long that she almost had to remind herself how to do it. But it was easy too when Finn babbled nonsense at her and slithered down from his monkey position, trying to stand. He wobbled upwards proudly for a minute then landed hard on his heavily cushioned butt and looked at her in shock, making her laugh again. "I don't think I've laughed this much in a long time." she confided in him. "I think you might be good for me."

He nodded at her like he understood, making her laugh again and feel a strange pulse of something warm in her chest. It took her a moment to identify it as a kind of weak happiness, like the first shoots of spring struggling to thrust their way up through frozen ground. Marceline knew that if she let Finn stay close then those shoots would grow huge and bloom; she wasn't exactly unhappy with that situation but it did worry her a little. She wasn't sure how to be around other people, let alone children.

She yawned again, putting it out of her mind for closer examination later and stretching her long limbs through the air, then drifting down to the floor to pick up her adopted- something. She frowned thoughtfully to herself as they flew slowly back towards the bedroom, Finn with eyes as large as saucers as he glided through the air with her. She didn't feel comfortable exactly calling him her adopted son; despite being a thousand years older than him she still felt like she was nineteen and far too young to be anyone's mother. Besides she had a vague notion that mothers dressed sensibly and didn't have fangs or a collection of different night-tone eye liners. Mothers were sensible people who made lists and organised junk within an inch of its life, right? They had cookie recipes taped to their fridges and didn't ever find bits of twigs tangled in their hair. Mothers didn't wrestle wolves or go on tour with rock bands. Marceline was definitely not 'mother' material. She considered for a moment. Sister wasn't right and aunt was too distant. This was more difficult than she'd thought it would be. As she placed Finn down on the bed, tiny fist balled up in her hair once again, tucked in gentle under her grey and black sweater, she sighed a happy sigh and decided it didn't matter what kind of relative she was to him. He was just her Finn and he needed her. She had a nagging feeling that it was just possible she needed him back.

She let her eyes drift shut to the sound of his little boy snores and as she fell asleep herself she gradually drifted downwards until she was resting on the bed next to him with the feel of his tiny heartbeat pulsing against the hand she wrapped protectively across his chest.

...

Marceline jerked awake in panic at the sound of a smash and a wailing cry from the bathroom. She was across the room and by Finn's side before she even realised she'd moved, sweeping him up in a hug and checking every inch of his soft skin for new scrapes and cuts. Once she was satisfied he was as whole as she'd found him her gaze shifted to the broken mirror on the floor, the five unravelled and shredded rolls of toilet paper and the sticky mess on the bottom of the door heavily featuring toothpaste and tiny hand prints.

"Finn!" she scolded, looking down into his red, scrunched up face. "We sleep now, we'll play later. But you don't go in my bathroom, ok? It's only for bigger people; there's stuff in there that you could hurt yourself on." A quick, guilty glance to the top of the medicine cabinet confirmed he'd not found a way up there yet. That was a relief at least. Marceline resolved to find a more secure hiding spot for her more intimate items, some place with a padlock, perhaps. Not that she was using any of her extensive collection of intimates; she hadn't had opportunity in six months now and she was certainly not going to bring some random chick home just to have an excuse to show off her collection. _Perhaps I should just get rid of all that stuff_ she thought forlornly. _I have no intention of ever using it again_. A strange snigger curled her lip when she considered leaving the items Bonnie had chosen in a box on her ex lover's balcony. It would be worth it just to see her face when she opened the box and found herself looking at a pile of- well, intimate items.

She sighed tiredly and drifted across to the bed, tucking Finn back into the centre. He struggled and kicked his legs in protest, fussing and whining when she left him there until she put down the brush she'd been cleaning the mess up with and came back to him.

"Come on darling, it's daytime now. That means that it's sleepy time for vampires. I'm not upset about the mirror you know, it was only for guests anyway. I can't even see my reflection; I just have to take other people's word for it that I look awesome."

She grinned and hung upside down for a moment, making Finn laugh and reach out for her hair again. He sucked his thumb enthusiastically and wrapped his little fingers around the fine black strands as she hummed a soft lullaby for him until he stilled; but his eyes remained wide open and staring fascinated at her long after her own eyelids again began to droop with exhaustion. She glanced at the crack of sunlight showing on the ceiling above the curtains. It was already getting towards mid-morning by her estimation and she'd not slept properly the day before either, or the month before if she was honest. Her eyes stung and her head felt like it was full of some kind of damp cotton wool. Vampires didn't need a lot of sleep but they did need some and Marceline was acutely aware of how much she'd been abusing her body recently. Finn needed her to be better; she resolved to get her life back into shape for his sake. She wondered briefly if Simon had ever promised himself the same and with a stab of regret realised there was no way she could ever know. She would do better. Finn was not going to lose her the way she'd lost Simon.

"Come on Finn, please go to sleep." she murmured, exhaustion beginning to drag on the edges of her vision. He just gazed up at her and kicked his legs, giggling at the sound of his own name. Something occurred to her and she smiled tiredly, gently disentangling his hands from her hair and drifting across to the closet in the corner of the room. She rummaged amongst the assorted junk for a few seconds until she found what she was looking for and pulled it triumphantly out of the tangle of items she'd accumulated over the years.

"It's not quite the same, I know," she said, with a stab of old anger at that psycho Ash darkening her features for a moment, "and don't you go telling anyone I have this. There'll only ever be one Hambo, he's irreplaceable and one day we're gonna get him back. But I think this is a pretty good copy, and I made him myself. Just, you know, so I would have something to show people so they knew what he looked like when we're searching for him. Because I didn't have a photo."

She momentarily hugged and then reverently laid an exact replica of her old beloved bear on the bed next to the little boy, perfectly clean and whole as he had been when Simon had first given him to her. Finn's whole face lit up and he chewed gleefully on the bear's ear with a big grin stretched across his features. Marceline sighed in open relief; Hambo had always been the best thing for getting a stubborn child to go to bed. She shouldknow.

"Ok, now you have the very best bear a child could ever wish for. He'll listen to all your secrets and give you the biggest hugs and even keep you safe from any monsters under your bed if you ask him to. I guess this guy is Hambo II, I hope you have as much fun with him as I did with my Hambo. Try him out, he'll guard you while you sleep. And that means it's time for tiny humans and bigger vampire queens to close their eyes and get some rest."

Finn might have gurgled or something in reply but Marceline's eyelids were already closed and after a couple of minutes her habitual breathing slowed and stopped, she slid into a sleep so deep it was only granted to the dead.


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry for the delay in updating, I've been working nights all weekend. And writing oneshots, which I'll be posting soon.**

 **Anyway, plot is going to happen soon! Yayy plot!**

 **Content warning: Off screen character death in this chapter.**

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It must have been hours later but to Marceline it seemed like she'd only had her eyes closed for a few minutes before an air shattering wail snatched her out of sleep again. This time she was by his side before she'd even opened her eyes, ricocheting off the walls of the bedroom before she dropped down through the trapdoor. Finn had somehow managed to find his way down the steep ladder to the bedroom, into the kitchen and into her mostly empty fridge. For a moment she panicked, sure he must have tumbled from the bedroom hatch and cursing herself for a fool that she'd taken him up there in the first place. He could hardly walk, let alone climb down a ladder on his own. But after a frantic check she had to conclude that he had no new injuries to speak of, just the same bruises he'd gotten last night from crawling around in the woods.

She stood holding him for a long moment, feeling his tiny heartbeat as a comforting rhythmic pulse. He was completely unhurt and she had no idea how he'd done it. Perhaps she'd been wrong, he wasn't human after all. Probably part monkey, given the way he'd been swinging from one shelf of the fridge.

An ominous stain on his makeshift diaper told her that her last Scream Queens tour shirt was probably beyond saving. She sighed, that tour had been one of the best of her life and she'd hoped to hang on to her shirt for a few more decades. But her super sensitive nose would never ever let her forget it had once been covered in baby poop. As if on cue a sharp smell assaulted her and she frowned in disgust, eyes watering.

"I don't know what you've been eating, but it doesn't love you back. Come on tiny poop machine, let's go and get you clean again."

She tiredly plucked him out of the fridge and made to drift back to the bedroom where her pile of clean shirts was rapidly dwindling. But Finn howled and twisted in her grip, reaching angrily backwards towards the larder.

She'd not been bothered to get groceries in far too long and all that was left were some wizened apples with all the red already sucked from them, a greyish green in colour that Marceline hadn't thrown away yet on the off chance that someone might come by and scold her for not eating. She'd vaguely planned to lie about having just finished them but the fang marks in their sides were obviously browning with age. Still Finn was reaching for them like they were they were the first food he'd seen in days and with an awful jolt of guilt Marceline realised they could very well be. She didn't need to eat all that much and like a fool she'd assumed the same was true of Finn.

"Are you hungry?" she asked him sadly, shifting him to her hip and moving closer to the apples so he could reach out and grab one. Finn mashed it into his face, sinking his sparse teeth into it and sucking the juice as hard as he could, beaming up at her between bites like she'd given him a rare treat. He looked well fed and Marceline supposed this could be the first time in his short life he'd ever really experienced hunger. She shivered for him; she knew what it felt like to be hungry. After the bombs had fallen her half-demon metabolism had kept her alive far past what any human child could have endured, it just meant she was more intimately acquainted with hunger pains than most.

Despite not needing so much food she was still quite hungry too, she'd eaten the colour from four or five toadstools last night and the two apples three days before that; that had been it for the whole week. They needed real food and she was going to have to go and get it.

It was a tough decision but the little boy seemed lively enough and she would just have to suck it up, lack of sleep was just part of looking after a small child. Marceline wished bitterly that she could talk to Simon to get his advice. She felt hopelessly lost as she stared down at the apple covered little boy clinging to her hip and babbling nonsense words at his food. Briefly she thought about asking her Dad but she dismissed that as a non starter almost immediately. Let the last human and his last pure human soul near her demon father? Not a chance, not if she lived to be a million years old. Hunson was not someone to be trusted with children. Or adults really, or animals, or anything that needed even a tiny bit of affection and nurturing. No, she'd rather take Finn back to the woods and leave him there than let him near her father. So she was going to have to provide for the little boy alone. Fine, she could manage that. How hard could it be?

"We'll get you clean and then go buy some food and some other baby junk. You'll never go hungry again little man, not as long as there's air in my lungs, ok? Well. I guess, I mean, you know. As long as I'm here to make sure there's food for you." She lifted him close to her face and promised it solemnly, searching his face to check he was paying attention. Finn wouldn't understand but it helped ease her guilt a little to make it a vow. She was deadly seriously about looking after him, Simon hadn't raised her to ignore a helpless child in need. And there was her other vow to consider, and the fact that she was now very invested in this child. Marceline nodded sincerely to him, she was going to do the very best for this boy. Finn laughed and sucked on the tip of her nose, leaving mushy bits of apple all over her face as he pressed his tiny hands against her cool cheeks.

"Silly boy," she murmured and flicked her long tongue out to tickle his sticky cheek. Finn's scream of laughter was agony at close range to such sensitive ears but totally worth it.

...

Brim pulled low over her face and gloves as high up her arms as possible, Marceline held Finn protectively against her chest in a makeshift baby sling as she shoved her way through the crowded afternoon markets of Grocery Kingdom. He sucked his thumb and smiled around widely at all the curious faces of the grocery citizens, waving sometimes and cooing to people as they passed. Marceline had already endured several rounds of questioning by well-meaning strangers and she was starting to feel edgy. She couldn't face the long explanations that would come from saying she was looking after him now and she wasn't entirely sure how safe it was to go spreading his story around to just anyone. She's shifted her face slightly as a low-key disguise, that was usually enough to avoid being bothered by anyone looking for vampire-related trouble and today she had an extra reason to be cautious. An extra reason that was currently wriggling around like an octopus and digging his feet into her stomach.

Besides, she was so tired it hurt to speak much more than was necessary. She brusquely brushed away an elderly aubergine woman who wanted to hold Finn and exclaim over his chubby cheeks. All Marceline wanted to do was get home, make some real food for Finn and then sleep for as long as she could without interruption. She'd had a stroke of genius and invested in a large playpen for him, no more midday adventures around the house until he learned to open the latch on his own and that would take a few hours at least, surely? She'd also sourced some real diapers, the woman who served her in the baby store had glared daggers at Finn's fetching red and black plaid shirt toga. Marceline could easily live with being glared at if it meant she didn't have to burn the few articles of unsoiled clothing she still had left.

Exhausted to the point of collapse but finally laden with enough food and supplies to see them through the week, she was shouldering her way out of the market through the afternoon crowds when a voice she vaguely recognised shouted her name.

"Hey! Queen Marceline! Hey! MARCELINE THE VAMPIRE QUEEN!" She turned sharply, eyes narrowed to a furious red slit. She could feel her fangs lengthening angrily in her gums; this tired and awake in the middle of the day Marceline was not in the mood to deal with some idiot who thought they could hail her like that in the middle of a crowded street. Being the Vampire Queen was one thing; by rights of conquest she was the de facto monarch of the few vampires who still remained. But being identified as such in a large crowd that could easily turn into a mob was beyond the pale; people were still mostly edgy around vampires and she had taken pains to not be identified as such today. She was even making the effort to walk instead of flying despite being exhausted. Nobody who knew her well would use her full title, not unless they had a death wish or a warped sense of humour, possibly both. Marceline the Vampire Queen had a fearsome and in most cases entirely deserved reputation. Whereas Marcy the casual grocery shopper was just someone who occasionally bought strawberries and apples, wore a big hat and didn't chat much. And now the whole crowd was falling silent, turning to stare at her in shock.

She scanned the scared and angry faces for whoever had addressed her for a moment although most were glaring at her with a mix of anger and fear. People backed away nervously, leaving her alone in an uncomfortably exposed circle. Hurrying through the now staring throng towards her was a large yellow shape which resolved itself into Joshua the Dog, well known adventurer and current Champion and lapdog of Bonnie. She smiled coldly, wondering what errand her ex-lover had sent him on that he felt he could just casually stroll up in the street and out her as a vampire in front of such a large and stupid crowd.

"My Queen," he started, bowing low in front of her in a weirdly formal way and doffing his hat, revealing the thin new scar he hid underneath. "I can't tell you how glad I am to see you. So very glad."

There was something off about the way he was eyeing he, and not once had he let his gaze to flicker to Finn, looking solemnly out at the stranger from under Marceline's wide hat. She glanced around in time to catch the flicker of confusion that ran through the crowd. It matched her own confusion.

"Err, hey Joshua. Do you want to say my name just a little bit louder next time? Pretty sure they didn't hear you all the way out in Goblin City."

He ignored her and straightened up from his bow. Up close Marcy could see there were red rims around his eyes and smudges of soot on his face. Her confusion deepened as he carried on talking as though he hadn't heard her speak.

"Please, allow me to accompany you home. It's not seemly for a Queen to carry her own groceries, even one as strong as yourself."

Joshua was staring at her intently, trying to send her some kind of message but she couldn't make out what it was she was supposed to be understanding from him. His formal tone was grating on her already burnt out nerves; she despised having to deal with royal conventions. But Joshua knew all about how twitchy she was being the big bad vampire in front of crowds so it must be part of whatever plan he was involved in. She trusted him to a point; he worked for Bonnie from time to time and she had never been known as a prankster. So Joshua's biz must be serious to invoke her royal status; it made her nervous to think what he might want. Too many strange things happening and not enough information to know what was going on. She didn't like it one bit, instinctively shifting her groceries to one arm and circling Finn protectively with the other.

"Sure, I guess. They're not heavy."

She shrugged, but it was so confusing. Joshua was speaking and acting like a stuck up nobleman when he _knew_ she knew he was a gritty detective. It was also the first time in a long time she'd seen him without Margaret and that was a seriously bad omen, in Marceline's opinion. The Dogs always did everything together. Handing over her groceries to him they turned back towards the road and began their journey out of the market.

Her incredibly sensitive ears picked up angry and confused muttering from the crowd behind them; people didn't know what to think when a famous hero like Joshua the Dog hailed the queen of undead blood suckers and left with her like old friends. A few braver souls were discussing following and ambushing them but to her relief nobody settled on a concrete plan; most just seemed glad the dangerous vampire was leaving.

Marceline bared her teeth in silent annoyance, she'd have to find someplace else to buy her strawberries if she didn't want to have to hurt most of the Grocery Citizens in self-defence next time she stopped by and they tried to decapitate her. She'd been shopping there for years and suddenly now she was dangerous and untrustworthy just because they'd discovered her undead status. Stupid hypocrites. They even knew she was vegetarian anyway.

As they left the market Marceline felt the prickle of unfamiliar eyes on her back and turned to see who was watching them.

"Please, Marceline. Eyes straight ahead." Joshua hissed, his voice holding an edge of panic that sent an answering knot of worry twisting into the pit of her stomach.

"Joshua, what the stuff is going on?" she hissed back, shooting him a look from the corner of her eye. He waved her off with a casual hand gesture and she huffed quietly to herself.

Finn was fussing again; she jiggled him nervously and repressed the urge to stare around for trouble. She was too tired, her brain felt like grey mush sloshing around inside her skull. One thing Marceline hated more than anything else was feeling vulnerable. She was in no fit state to swat a fly, let alone fight off a surprise attack. Whatever Joshua wanted to talk to her about it couldn't just be coincidence that he'd found her the day after she'd rescued a strange human boy in the woods.

They continued on their way, mercifully avoiding trouble, but Marceline couldn't shake the feeling she was still being watched all the long way home. Finally with the door closed and magically bolted, curtains drawn and Finn settled on the rug with his teddy bear and a plate of hastily ripped up currant buns, she turned to Joshua and fixed him with her hardest glare.

"Now, out with it." she snarled. "Why did you come looking for me? What's Bonnie got you up to now?"

Joshua didn't reply immediately. He sighed heavily and reached into his shoulder bag without a word then drew out his hand and opened it to show her what he'd been carrying, a perfect miniature of himself asleep.

"What-?" Marceline started, but Joshua waved his hand again and she fell silent.

At the sound of her voice the miniature woke up, yawned and as she watched in fascination expanded to the size of a normal puppy. The puppy looked up at her and blinked in confusion, sniffing her hand carefully when she reached out to him. He looked quite young, Marceline wasn't sure how Dogs aged exactly but he seemed to be a little more coordinated than Finn at least so he could well be older but not by much.

"This is my son, Jake. Someone wants him dead." Joshua stated blankly, his eyes glassy and empty as he stared at the puppy. Marceline peered at him more closely than she had in the market, she took in the tremble in his hands. "They've already killed my wife and our other son. Jake is all I have left. I haven't been to see Princess Bubblegum yet, I was on my way when I heard about you and made a detour to find you."

Little Jake was lowered softly to the floor where he shook himself and trotted happily over to inspect Finn and sniff Hambo II and the currant buns. Joshua lowered himself carefully onto the hard sofa, head in his paws, and a fit of shaking overtook him for a minute as Marceline floated worriedly in front of him. She stared helplessly at the grief stricken Dog, feeling useless and dim-witted. After a couple of minutes Joshua got himself back under control and continued his story. His voice shook but he wrapped his arms around himself and continued through gritted teeth.

"They came in the night. We heard them in the orchard, only just moved into that place a few months ago for the pups and I hadn't quite fixed up the perimeter fencing yet. Margaret told me to take Jake, she'd take Jermaine, we'd run in opposite directions and meet back up in the morning. Too many of them, so many trying to break into the house. I got out through the cellar, she went to slip out of the side door. That was the last I ever saw of them. When we came back yesterday morning the house was burned down with my wife and son's bodies still inside. One of those creatures was still just barely alive, Margaret's favourite sword was through his guts pinning him against our apple tree. He was something black and slimy, bulbous with red burning eyes. I've never seen anything like that before. Some kind of demon I think, you'd know better than me. All I could get out of him before he died was that his master wants the future heroes dead. He came for Jake." With that Joshua covered his face again and his shoulders shook with silent tears.

Marceline was so tired it took a moment for it all to sink in. She'd known Margaret, although not well. But Margaret had been a kind woman, very likeable and not at all squeamish about vampires. Jermaine was only a baby, he was the same age as Jake. Who would kill a baby? How could it be that they were dead? Marceline stared blankly for another moment and then lowered herself onto the other end of the sofa, arms going around Joshua instinctively as he shook with emotion, resting her exhausted head on his furred shoulder. They stayed like that for a long time, neither speaking.

"Joshua..." she started, but didn't know what to say so let the silence lapse again. Her chest ached, the horror of it all was more than she could process.

"I'm so sorry." she whispered eventually. With a visible effort he pulled himself back together, and wiped the tears from his face, paws clenched tightly together to ease their shaking.

"There's more," he whispered, gazing glassy eyed at the boys playing together on the rug. Finn pulled Jake's ears and he stretched them into long noodles, making both of them fall over with laughing. Marceline was impressed, it seemed the rumours about little Jake's abilities weren't wrong after all. He had magic or something similar.

"They didn't just want my boy. They want yours too."

He turned to look her full in the face, eyes bleak and desperate. "That thing said they want the human boy. Said they already found and killed the human he was with but the boy escaped into the undergrowth and they're hunting him. I heard a rumour that a strange looking child had been spotted flying through the forest with a dark haired vampire in the night and I didn't think there were any other vampires around, you were the only one I could think of except for that guitar woman you used to tour with, and I haven't seen her around in ages. I don't know how you found him or why you took him in but it's plain to see you're protecting him now. He's one lucky kid. And someone wants him dead for something he hasn't even done yet. I won't say I know what a future hero even is or how you can tell one from any other baby but they obviously won't stop at killing everyone who stands in their way. That means you and I are both targets and it's safer for us to be together than apart. So we're a team now, right?"

...

Joshua watched the boys that evening while Marceline tried to catch up on sleep. They were in a hidden cave guarded by the most powerful vampire-demon alive and the best adventurer in Ooo so she had no fear of immediate attack. She wasn't a wizard by any stretch of the imagination but a vampire and a half demon had a latent magic of her own; one of the first things she'd done when she built the cave house was reinforce the natural defences with her own magic. It would take a long time for anyone with unfriendly intentions to even find the opening to the cave.

Despite the lack of first hand witnesses she was sure that no opportunistic bandit group had felled the fearsome Margaret and little Jermaine but it made her nervous to be holed up alone in the cave anyway and she was worrying herself crazy over what to do. Sleep was a long time coming and when it did arrive it was fitful and disturbed. She just didn't feel safe there anymore, angry that these things were happening and she had no idea why.

Despite her exhaustion she hadn't been able to get more than a few restful hours, but it was enough to allow her to function in a mostly normal way. Her dreams were full of Finn screaming in terror as a black cloud closed around him, pulling him from her arms no matter how tightly she held him. Not long after sunset she gave up and went back downstairs, too disturbed from her nightmares to risk sleeping more. The boys were already asleep side by side next to a low fire Joshua had kindled to warm the room and she smiled gratefully at him as she glided down from her bedroom. Jake was pawing the air as he ran through his dreams and Finn was sucking peacefully on his thumb, other arm wrapped possessively around the puppy's neck.

Joshua looked up and tried to give a watery smile to her as she crossed the room to him. For a moment his face shifted and he narrowed his eyes and frowned deeply at her but Marceline blinked and it was gone. She rubbed her eyes, sure that she must have imagined it. Joshua nodded at the boys, voice low.

"They fell asleep about half an hour ago. I'd wager Finn is only a bit younger than my Jake, about a year in human age? Maybe a little less or more, I'm no expert on humans. Guess you're not sure either. They shouldn't have a problem with sleeping right through, Jake's always been good like that. I hope you don't mind that I used your kitchen but I needed to get some dinner into them before I put them down. I made pasta, do you want some?" he added, indicating the kitchen. Marceline shook her head, she couldn't eat when she was so worried over Finn and she'd rather go hungry than eat tomato based sauce anyway. Tomatoes were the worst.

"Finn's not really a good sleeper. I couldn't get him down for more than a couple of hours at a time today, he'll probably want to be up with me till sunrise." she said with a frown. "I really struggled to get him to sleep at all this morning."

Joshua looked at her strangely.

"Marceline," he started slowly, chosing his words carefully, "I don't mean any disrespect but what do you really know about children? I mean non-demon children, the kind that you generally get in the grasslands or for example stumble across in the Candy forest?"

She frowned at him, but in the end had to sigh and hang her head, disdaining to answer but glaring sullenly at her boots.

"I thought so. So here's what I've picked up, in general. I don't know how much applies to humans but usually unless they're from a nocturnal species children sleep at night and play through the day. If you try to get Finn to follow a vampire sleep pattern he'll just be cranky, restless and bored. Bored babies pretty quickly lead to broken possessions." he said, with a gentle tone in his voice.

Marceline flushed as much as her grey complexion would allow. She knew that, dammit she'd been born half human and slept through the night until she was in her late teens and the bite had happened. She cursed fluently under her breath and stared down at her shoes again, too embarrassed to meet Joshua's eyes.

But Finn was sleeping peacefully and she didn't seem to have messed up anything else too much. He was fed, changed and protected; it was more than she'd have believed herself capable of 24 hours ago.

"Marce," Joshua said softly, drawing her attention back to him. "He's fine. Stop worrying. You made a mistake, it happens. Mostly all you did was make yourself tired and cranky, not him. He's been an angel." Joshua smiled a little, his look taking in the exhausted bruise-dark rings under her eyes. "Beginner's mistake, no harm done. It's not a bad introduction to parenting as far as these things go."

"I'm not his parent, I just look after him." Marceline muttered, still staring at her feet. They stood in silence for a few seconds before she screwed up all her courage, looked up and said, "Joshua. We can't keep them here. We don't have enough defence, they know we're here and sooner or later we'll run out of food and one of us will have to go get more. And believe me, you don't want to be around me when I get too hungry. We have to take them some place safe. You know where I was when I found him so you know where his parents must have been taking him before whoever it was caught up with them."

He nodded, face dark with grief and worry again.

"I know you're not keen to go there," Joshua said slowly, "but we really only have one option. I don't need to know the details of what happened between the two of you but you need to be the bigger woman about it now. For his sake if not your own."

Marceline bit her lip, not quite hard enough to draw blood. It wrenched her painfuly to even consider it but she could sacrifice her pride for the little boy sleeping peacefully by the fire if she had to. Anything was worth keeping him safe, even apologising from the depth of her soul.

"I know. I know, I have to. I swore a vow to keep him safe and my pride is a small price for that. Man, I never thought I'd manage to be this responsible. We'll leave tonight and take them to Bonnibel, she'll know what to do."


	5. Chapter 5

**Update! I had a date (no biggie, we're poly) and my gf very helpfully pointed out the woman I was going to meet bears more than a passing resemblance to the Tree Witch from that episode 'To Cut A Woman's Hair'. I spent the whole of dinner trying not to think about getting sucked into her bottomless bottom. Needless to say we're not going out again.**

 **Anyway, new chapter. Content warning for implied historical smut and stuff, lesbianism etc. Again if this is not your thing then probably stop reading this story now because from here on it only gets worse.**

* * *

Bonnibel Bubblegum was dreaming of blue grass under the moonlight and a cool breeze blowing softly through her hair when the tiny crystal bell next to her pillow rang, jerking her awake in confusion.

She hadn't heard that bell in over six months, it was the alarm that indicated someone had accessed the palace through the secret tunnel that lead directly to her rooms from Marceline's favourite cave hangout. She had just enough time to sit up and guiltily rip Marceline's old t shirt off, hiding it under a pillow. No need for her to know that Bonnibel had kept that, much less that she slept in it every night and sometimes guiltily sniffed if because the scent of her former lover lingered in the soft cloth. It was all that got her to sleep some nights and she was deeply ashamed of that fact.

Too late, she realised that she was naked from the waste up and how it would look to her ex-girlfriend. Marceline carefully hovered around the false section of wall and into her darkened room before Bonnie could do more than scrabble the covers up to cover her chest. She was dressed darkly as usual but had a large bag as well as her axe strapped across her shoulders and her sun hat on despite the lateness of the hour. More than anything she looked like she was dressed for going travelling.

The room was suddenly very warm and Bonnie was confused and angry. What the hell was going on? It wouldn't have mattered so much if she didn't know how good Marceline's night vision was, but she didn't have time to blush or even open her mouth before Marcy was at her side, hovering silently above the bed and staring down at her with an unusually solemn face.

Perhaps it was just a dream, just one more of her numerous and shameful Marceline themed dreams. But when she carefully pinched the skin on her arm under the sheets it smarted in a very awake way and that only increased her confusion. Bonnie was quite aware that she should open her mouth and say something but it was difficult with Marceline staring at her, here in her room in the middle of the night without any warning. A million feelings tumbled through Bonnie's mind as their eyes met. Her stomach jolted painfully and she ruthlessly repressed the urge to tug the graceful vampire down into the bed with her. She looked well, Bonnie supposed. Beautiful as ever but with even more than her usual air of sadness around her. Marceline looked down, breaking the spell, and whispered urgently.

"Bonnie, something's happened and I need your help. I'm sorry to intrude like this but I needed to get here without being seen, you know invisibility isn't foolproof. Besides I had to bring someone with me. I wouldn't ask but and I think you're the only one who can help me. At the very least I need someone else to know what's going on before they find us and kill us. Please get up and put something on, there's something you urgently need to see."

And with that the vampire flew across the room, pulled a modest nightdress from the closet and deposited it on Bonnie's bed. To her credit she never once glanced down at the exposed pink skin as the bed covers slipped a little and looked away from the dark magenta blush staining her ex-girlfriend's face.

Bonnie just stared at her, taking in the tension in Marceline's shoulders and the dark rings under her eyes like bruises just visible by the light of the moon filtering through her half open curtains.

A leaden feeling slid into the pit of her stomach. Something was very seriously wrong. Marceline didn't politely ask for help, she didn't turn up without warning and respect Bonnie's personal space and she absolutely did not apologise for intruding. And she'd mentioned someone wanting to kill her. Or kill _them,_ she'd said 'us'. So who else was involved?

Since their awful fight Marceline hadn't been seen by anyone in the Candy Kingdom for six months save for the times she'd been creeping around the princess' rooms and Bonnie had thrown her out and the whispers of her haunting the edges of the woods and singing sad songs to the moon. Now here she was again, begging for help in the middle of the night and uncharacteristically grave.

Wordlessly Bonnie slipped into the nightdress and out of the bed. Ignoring the hard slap of the tiles under her bare feet she padded across to her former lover and pulled her down to floor level by the arm. She tried to look into her face but the other woman avoided her gaze, staring at her hands instead. Bonnie wanted to stay mad at her but it was too strange, too out of character. Something awful had happened, she just knew it. It was so hard to remember to be angry about their fight when Marceline looked so lost and vulnerable. Fear collided with confusion in her chest; there wasn't much that a thousand year old vampire queen couldn't handle alone. She must have been desperate to come for help.

"Marcy, what's wrong?"

Her voice cracked with sleep and rising fear, and it was even worse because Marceline could smell fear and she must know that Bonnie was genuinely terrified. "You show up out of the blue looking like you haven't slept in a week, you're so tense you look like you're about to snap-"

Marceline just shrugged uncomfortably, lifting her head and indicating towards the false wall which was beginning to inch open again. Bonnie tensed; surely Marceline wouldn't have brought anyone dangerous through the tunnel? She knew Marcy was sometimes irresponsible but she couldn't believe she'd risk Bonnie's safety, no matter how bad things were between them now. Or that she'd reveal their secret tunnel to just anyone, that she'd be so stupid. But who-

A trembling paw pushed the hidden door further open and Joshua the Dog cautiously stepped out, looking just as careworn as Marceline had. He was the very last person Bonnie had expected to see, so far as she knew Marceline disdained all heroes and adventurers on principle. She'd never been close to Joshua and Margaret. And why had they gone through the tunnel and not just walked up to the palace? Where was Margaret?

But he was standing in her bedroom with two suspicious bundles of blankets in his arms and by the faint moonlight she could see his eyes were glazed with hours of unshed tears.

"Princess," he bowed, passing the bundles to Marceline who handled them with surprising tenderness. "I've got something awful to tell you."

...

They talked for hours. Bonnie called for refreshments and collected them herself at the door, turning her confused staff away with a polite but immovable smile. Yes, everything was fine. Yes, she was aware of the lateness of the hour. No, she was not going to discus why she was awake. Goodnight, thank you for the tea, please leave. They obeyed her reluctantly.

Joshua paced. Marceline stared out of the window while he talked and Bonnie listened with her mounting horror. Margaret and Jermaine were dead; she couldn't help but cry for them. She hadn't meant to let her grief show in front of Joshua but Margaret had been a close friend and she'd known Jermaine from the day he was born; he'd been the image of his brother. Jake had woken and licked her hand sleepily when she'd held him, his little tail thumping a welcome. But it was way past his bedtime and sleep soon overcame him again. Bonnie sat and rocked him as Joshua spoke, trying to take it all in, scanning her memory for who the mysterious threat could be. Nobody immediately jumped to her mind and it disturbed her greatly that there could be such a powerful enemy out there somewhere in her kingdom and she didn't know who they were. Jake was a comforting weight in her lap, warm and so reassuringly alive. It gave her something to anchor to. Something to focus on when the grief threatened to overwhelm her.

Eventually Joshua took Jake back and rocked him, clinging to his little blue blanket like it was the only thing keeping his infant son from disappearing too. She turned back to where the other child was lying and stared into the sleeping face of baby Finn, the only human she'd seen up close in over a hundred years.

His thumb was back in his mouth and Marceline was smoothing down his wispy blond hair, singing a lullaby to him in a quiet voice that was somehow reminiscent of silk across bare skin. It made Bonnie tense up a little to hear her; occasionally she'd sung like that in the seclusion of their bedroom in the far distant past and despite the intervening years the memory of it was as fresh as if it had happened yesterday. It made her shiver in ways that had nothing at all to do with cold or fear and everything to do with shameful repressed emotions, the memories of long ago intimacies. Bonnie focussed back on the baby, desperate for something safe to think about. Something that didn't make her knees tremble.

"He's beautiful." she whispered, running a finger gently down the baby's soft peachy cheek. He sighed in his sleep and turned instinctively towards the warmth of her hand. Her heart ached to pick him up and hold him but it was obvious that Marceline was protecting him with every ounce of her strength and she didn't want to come between what was obviously a very deep emotional bond. She could only stare in awe at the perfect little boy. It was so strange to see her ex lover with a baby cradled protectively in her arms, Bonnie wasn't sure how to feel about it. Marceline was dangerous to be sure but when she was being protective she was something else again. A force of nature. It wasn't something she'd been prepared to deal with when she'd gone to bed that night.

"Yeah, he is."

Marcy held Finn possessively. Almost crouched around him as he lay sleeping in her arms. Her expression softened as she gazed down at him, holding more tender emotion than Bonnie had ever seen on her fierce features.

"He was so alone, Bon. He was scared and crying and hurt, I couldn't just leave him there. And you know about my vow, humans are under my protection. He'd have died if I had't been there. He needs me."

She sounded a little defensive but mostly she sounded like her heart would break for the little boy. Bonnie didn't know what to make of the sudden change. She'd never ever seen Marceline like this, not in all the centuries they'd spent as friends and lovers. She was thoughtful, protective and responsible, everything Bonnie thought she could never learn to be. Why had it needed Margaret and Jermaine to die before she'd grow up? Bonnie didn't dare ask it aloud but the thought circled round her mind, refusing to go away completely. She stroked Finn's beautiful little face one more time before withdrawing her hand and letting Marceline sweep him back into the isolated safety of her arms.

"You know you didn't ever need to beg me, Marcy. You and Finn will stay here for as long as you need, until you can guarantee his safety. Until we work out what the threat is to him and Jake neither of them should leave the palace. We'll make arrangements, keep them safe. Joshua," She turned to where the old Dog waiting quietly to the side, cradling his infant son with silent tears streaming down his face again.

"Do you think you would be able to leave Jake here for a few days to bring someone for me?"

Joshua nodded slowly, but his eyes were clouded and troubled, clearly torn between obedience and worry for his son.

"I don't want to leave Jake behind but there's nobody else I would trust more with his safety than the two of you. I'll make the trip as quickly as I can." he replied in a low voice, raw from crying but steady and just as strong as always.

"I need you to go and fetch Billy the Hero for me. He was your friend once, wasn't he? You know he'll protect your son."

Joshua nodded again, relieved. Bonnie hated the necessity of separating father and son but Billy wouldn't trust just anyone and Bonnie couldn't leave the palace herself, not when there was so much she needed to do here. She had toyed with the idea of sending Marceline just to get rid of her for a couple days but it was untenable; Billy would more than likely think she was messing with him. Besides, Marceline wouldn't leave Finn alone here. Not when she'd invoked her vow. It was one of the only things Bonnie had ever known her be serious about, her vow and that stupid axe bass.

They sat up for a few hours more working out the details. Jake would stay behind with Finn, the two seemed to be a comfort to each other and it was easier to protect them if they were staying together. Jake loved playing 'hide' and shrinking down in Joshua's bag but he was so young that they couldn't rely on his judgement to keep himself safe if anything happened to Joshua on the way.

There was a suite of room downs the hallway that Bonnie occasionally used for guests with children. The boys would have their own nursery and Joshua could stay close by when he returned. There would be a rotational guard on watch outside the babies' rooms and Joshua would try to round up as many of his old hero friends as possible. In a pinch Billy would fight, but he had given up violence years ago. Only a direct threat to his old friend's son would bring him out of retirement and then only if asked nicely. He had barely seen Jake since the boy was born, Billy barely left his cave for anything any more.

It was closer to dawn than midnight when they retired to their respective rooms. The boys were settled in the nursery, adjoining door open so that Joshua could hear the babies if they cried.

As he closed the bedroom door with a quiet "goodnight, princess" Bonnie turned and realised what the nagging feeling she'd been ignoring for the last hour was. Marceline floated in front of her, still wrapped in an aura of sadness. The corridor was empty except for the two of them and she really didn't know what to say to her former lover. Her pulse sounded too loud and insistent in her ears, awkwardly stammering like her heart had forgotten what a normal rhythm was.

"Do you want to-" she began, but Marcy cut her off.

"I'm going flying. I'll be back by morning."

Without a backwards glance she transformed into her bat form and swooped out of the nearest window. Bonnie returned to her rooms, heart feeling uncomfortably twisted and heavy in her chest.

...

Marceline stood guard silently in the corner of Bonnie's room, one sensitive ear tuned to the nursery down the hall and one on the sleeping princess in front of her. Bonnie didn't exactly know that Marceline was in her room, but she couldn't really bring herself to leave now that she was here and the boys were safe.

She'd flown for a while but despite her words earlier her eyes were beginning to slip closed mid-flight, she'd turned back rather than risk hurting herself however briefly. Bonnie's window was open a small crack and she'd slipped in through there by force of habit. She'd intended to exit as quietly as possible and help herself to a guest suite but somehow she'd ended up hovering silently above the princess's bed, not even daring to reflexively breathe in case she woke up.

The air was full of the achingly familiar sounds of Bonnie's slow breathing and Marceline burned to cross the room and join her, even if it ripped open the raw emotional wounds that their breakup had left in her chest. It felt like nothing she'd ever known before. Even her memories of losing her mother had nothing on the bitter pain that seeing her former lover again had caused. She would never admit even to herself how much it had cost her to ask for Bonnie's help, to stand calmly before her and not break down into fits of pure misery and self loathing. But she was doing it for Finn. He needed to be safe and Marceline could accept that she just wasn't capable enough to look after him herself, even without this nameless threat stalking him. He needed someone who could be awake every day with him, someone who could think about feeding him actual real food and who didn't use their own clothing as his diapers. Someone who didn't cause angry mobs to form just by having their name spoken aloud in public.

She thought of leaving him there and letting Bonnie be the one to take care of him herself but that wrenched her heart even more. She couldn't just go, he'd already lost his human parents and Marceline had promised him faithfully to stay and look after him, vowed to protect humans in general and him specifically. Her promises weren't worth a damn in the past, she could see that now. But she'd changed and this time when she'd promised not to leave she really meant it. She was going to keep that promise even if it meant ripping out her cold dead heart and letting Bonnie brutalize it every day for the rest of Finn's childhood.

Deep down Marcy knew Bonnie wasn't hurting her on purpose. She was really only hurting herself, she'd thought about the breakup while flying and come to the dizzying conclusion that much like most of the things that had hurt her in her long life it was really nobody's fault but her own. Those things she'd said were awful, terrible things. And she''d said them in anger. She'd let her demon temper flare because she was so damn tired of being a secret. Marceline had believed those things, briefly, when she'd said them. Then she'd thought about it more and examined the evidence and changed her mind completely. But by then she was already banished and it was far too late.

She wanted to apologise but the words wouldn't come, she didn't even know how to begin. It was an easy thing to know she'd been wrong and infinitely harder to say it out loud. Every time she thought about what she'd said she wanted to curl into a ball of shame and rip her hair out in frustration. Those had been the very worst things she could think of saying, verbal weapons designed to do nothing but hurt the only person she really cared about. Marcy had run out of words to describe how miserable she was, how much she hated herself for that.

Marceline stared down at the sleeping woman below her and felt her chest ache fiercely. Surely it wouldn't hurt to be at least a little closer? Bonnie was asleep and she hadn't chased Marceline out of her rooms with fire and pitchforks so probably she didn't mind her being there too much, right? It was consistent with her character at least; Bonnie was too forgiving by half.

Silently she floated across the room, not bothering to breathe or blink as she admired the silhouette in the bed. If anyone had been watching they might have noticed a blush colour her cheeks; it was high summer and very warm, the sheets were thin and of the kind that clung to every line and curve. Despite the conservative cut of the nightshirt she wore it was almost too easy for unnaturally sharp eyes to make out every detail of the princess' slender figure, most of her bare toned legs were sticking out from under a thin sheet and they looked very smooth and shapely in the low light.

She was curled onto her side with her hands tucked under her chin, lips parted slightly and hair splayed back across the pillows. A bittersweet smile tugged at Marcy's lips when she noticed that Bonnie was still sleeping on the side of the bed she'd claimed all those years ago when she'd first shyly asked Marceline to stay the night, it seemed she hadn't adjusted to Marceline's absence any better than the vampire had adjusted to being away from her.

But before she let herself give in to sleep she needed to do one thing.

"Are you awake, Bonnibel?"

There was no reply, no change in her deep slow breathing and no stutter in the steady pulse of her heart that Marceline's vampire instincts made sure she was always painfully aware of, even when they were across the room from each other. She let out a breath she didn't need and didn't know she'd been holding. So the princess was asleep and she could practice the words at least.

"I didn't mean to hurt you. Well, I guess I did at the time. But I'm sorry for it. I don't know how many times you need me to apologise but this is me saying sorry. I know, I'm pretty surprised too. I want you to know that hate myself for it; however much you hate me I hate myself more right now. I still love you, you know. I just want to go back to how it used to be, I don't even care. I'll hide from everyone and I'll be your secret and you can see whichever suitors you want. I want the pain to stop, it hurts so much. If you feel anywhere near as bad as I do then you'll understand. I'm sorry I hurt you. Sorry I said those things. Sorrier than I even have words for, I don't know how else to articulate it. Please forgive me."

A moment of terror seized her as the princess shifted on the bed but she just smiled and mumbled in her sleep.

"Marcy."

She was just dreaming. It still took a long time for Marceline to start moving and breathing again, not daring to read too much into what she'd overheard. After a long moment she allowed her eyes to blink closed and it was an effort to open them again. How long since she'd rested undisturbed? Weeks? Probably, she couldn't really remember. She'd become so numb to the constant nightmares and insomnia, she wasn't sure when that had become normal for her.

The tension wound out from her aching shoulders painfully slowly and her eyes began to droop again. It felt good to get all that off her chest, maybe one day she'd manage it when her princess was even awake. Practice would make it perfect, she'd tell her again tomorrow night. Just like practising for a performance.

The quiet sounds of the palace at night and the soft scent of strawberries from Bonnibel's hair filled her with a comfort she hadn't even known she was missing. Physical and mental exhaustion was dragging her down and it was a pain to float upright so she curled up in the air where she hovered by the bed and let deep sleep finally pull her under.

Marceline was sleeping peacefully for the first time in months as inch by painfully slow inch she gently drifted down onto her side of the bed, Bonnie shifting in her sleep to better accommodate her by pure instinct and snaked an arm across her waist without waking either of them. Marceline smiled in her sleep as the warmth from the other woman soaked into her, the smell of strawberries covering them both. She slept deeply, mercifully untroubled by nightmares.

In the morning Bonnie didn't have the heart to wake her. She'd dreamed that Marceline had apologised to her for their fight and they'd been together again. It was wonderful even if it was only a dream, nothing that could happen in real life. Could it? She didn't want to think more about it, too much to do that day to dwell on dreams, too painful to think she'd never hear an apology from those cold lips. She brushed a gentle, shameful kiss against Marcy's forehead, blushing as she did so, and slipped from the room leaving a note to explain where she'd gone.

...

Marceline came awake slowly, swimming upwards from deep sleep into consciousness, warm and comfortable and still smelling strawberries. She opened her eyes a crack and it took a few moments for the confused blurs of colour to resolve into the canopy above Bonnie's bed. Blinking slowly she tried to remember what had happened and how she'd ended up here.

She was lying in the bed with a blanket draped across her shoulders despite remembering quite clearly falling asleep in the air. Normally she only slept in the bed rather than above it when she was sharing it with someone she wanted to be close to. But Finn was in the nursery; surely Bonnie hadn't let her drift down into the bed with her last night? She sat up and looked around in confusion until she spied the note left on the pillow next to her.

 _Marcy,_

 _I hope you don't mind waking up alone but it looked like you needed the rest and I needed to sort some things out. I'm taking Finn and Jake down to the lab with me, don't worry I won't let them mess with the science. Joshua has gone to fetch Billy and any other trusted heroes he can find. If you're hungry there's a platter of food outside the door, I've asked the staff to refresh it every hour so it should still be warm for you. I know it doesn't affect the flavour but it's healthy for you to eat warm food and we both know you like it so don't complain. Take as long as you need, use any of my stuff that you want. There's a couple of changes of clothes in the wardrobe and I moved your backpack to the nursery with the rest of Finn's stuff. I hope you don't mind I unpacked it already, you'll need more clothes for him soon though because he's already run through two shirts at the time of writing and it's not quite midday yet. Come down and see me when you're awake, I promise to look after the boys._

 _Bonnibel x_

It was surprisingly thoughtful of her to make sure Marceline knew what was happening, she supposed. And she trusted Bonnie to take care of the boys, she'd had plenty of opportunity to watch the other woman interact with children over the centuries and knew Bonnie was up to the task. Despite Marceline's instinctive tendency to worry about anyone in her care it was nice to know the boys were being looked after competently. No need to rush just yet.

Marceline yawned, stretched and glided out of the bed to investigate the food platter outside the door. It amused her a little that the staff who generally were still so frightened of her must be quaking in terror as they left platter after platter of hot food outside their mistress' personal rooms. No doubt it was the gossip of the kitchens again how their own sweet princess was sleeping with the wicked vampire again after she'd finally come to her senses and throw her out. Marcy could only wish that was the case, it would be so much easier for them to just fall back into their old patterns than this unknown threat and confusing mess of quiet regrets and unspoken apologies.

The staff would probably be disappointed with the truth of the situation; deadly plots against mysterious infants were generally considered second rate gossip compared with whether there was currently anyone fucking in the royal bed chambers. There had even been a running bet for a while between some of the braver staff over who topped during their after dark activities, it had amused her no end to think of how their minds would be blown if they considered all the interesting angles that could be achieved when one partner had superhuman strength, the power of flight and a very active imagination. Eventually that bet had died down and Marceline was curious to know if someone had spied on them and whether they'd been stupid enough to reveal the truth and claim their prize money.

She shifted uncomfortable as a whole different kind of ache blossomed, it had been six months since any of her thoughts had bent towards their bedroom activities and now it flooded back with a vengeance. _Right here in this bed, remember?_ She shook her head but the thoughts refused to shift.

She took the platter inside and snuggled back into the bed to enjoy her food, trying to ignore the recollections of the other things she'd enjoyed under those sheets. The platter contained a very acceptable roasted red pepper and paprika soup and was indeed still hot, with a side of deep red apples and chilli peppers.

She sucked the colour and warmth from it guiltily, enjoying the heat as it temporarily brought a healthy pinkish flush to her cheeks and a rush of strength to her limbs. The chillies were a particular favourite of hers and the spiciness made her eyes water. Once they were all drained she lay back and enjoyed the feeling for a few moments.

Finally Marcy got up and shrugged out of her clothes, gliding over to the bathroom with the intent on taking a long hot shower. She'd showered more since finding Finn than she had for a whole week before. He had a way of making everything and everyone around him sticky without her ever noticing how he did it. She was almost completely certain she had at least one baby booger in her hair.

The inappropriate thoughts were still plaguing her even as she tried to focus on thinking about protecting Finn instead. Sighing as the hot water streamed against her cold skin she tipped her head back and let the heat flow luxuriously through her thick hair, massaging away some of the tension and the sickly smell of worry that still lingered in her scent. Like so many other things warmth wasn't strictly necessary for a vampire but she secretly loved it just like she loved breathing; an optional extra for the undead but useful for talking as well as reflexive. It reminded her of when she was mostly human, it was comforting to breathe and seek warmth.

She took a deep breath of steamy air and let the heat course around her, leaking the last of the aching tension from the last few days of worry out of her limbs. Ignoring the thoughts was hard when she was lathering herself in Bonnie's fancy honey scented soap.

They'd shared more than a few tender moments here too and the scent was sharpening her memory, reminding her of soft wet skin and urgent kisses, making her blush a little and shiver despite the heat of the water. Touch was just as keen her as all her other inhumanly sharp senses and she'd always loved the wonderful massaging heat of Bonnie's shower. Of course the princess had nothing but the very finest of everything, her bathroom was no exception. Marcy closed her eyes and tilted her head back again to better enjoy it, all the while very aware of the other times she'd been there, times when she'd not been alone. Eyes closed, hot water streaming against her skin, it was easy to imagine nothing had really changed. Just for a moment she let herself imagine, knowing it would hurt nobody but herself in the long run, willing to take that risk if it made things easier for now.

She stayed in the shower far longer than she normally would but nobody was waiting on her anyway so she took her time. She felt better than she had in days. Still not back to top form but certainly more alert and stable than the night before, perhaps even a little optimistic. They'd find and eliminate the threat to the boys, she'd patch things up with Bonnie and they'd find a new kind of normal. One that involved a lot of playing with litle Finn and a lot less violent rows. She would, she decided. Definitely. She'd find the right words.

Marcy rummaged through Bonnie's closet for something to wear, slightly surprised by how much of her own clothing was still there. Apparently Bonnie couldn't bear to part with her things or perhaps she'd just been too lazy or depressed to throw them away.

Before she could choose something her eyes slid to an unusual dark puddle of cloth on the floor by the bed, out of place against the soft pastel colours of the rest of the room. Marcy guessed she'd knocked it from under Bonnie's pillow when she'd gotten up and drifted over to investigate it. She picked up the offending item curiously. A slow, bittersweet smile spread unchecked cross her face when she realised what she'd found. She knew exactly what she wanted to wear.


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey guys, I'm sorry I haven't posted in a while. I'm going to use that classic old excuse of having Life Events, nothing good I'm afraid. We had to say goodbye to one of our cats, Mr Bear, who had stomach cancer at the tragically young age of just seven. He was my best friend since he was a kitten, so this chapter is dedicated to his memory. May he forever frolic in kitty heaven.**

 **Content warning: a whole troupe of OCs (because really nobody actually fit the bill and I needed some extra characters), a Big Bad and some Simon and Garfunkel lyrics. As always please leave a review, it makes my day.**

* * *

Jake was usually a laid back type of puppy but he hadn't seen his Mom or brother for ages and now his Dad had left; he was alone with the happy smelling baby and the nice princess lady. They were playing with him and giving him cuddles but Jake was starting to get homesick. He missed his Mom.

The dark lady had been scary at first but she smelled kind as well as a little bit frightening and she'd hugged him and stroked his ears when they'd been in the other house with her so he knew she was a friendly lady. But he wanted his afternoon nap and the kind nice smelling lady who was holding him now wasn't singing his lullaby and tucking him up with his special blanket and she just wasn't his Mom and he was so tired-

He let out a mournful howl of sadness as fat tears splashed down his cheeks and he waved his paws unhappily. He wiggled and stretched against the lady's hands. She wanted to keep him there but he didn't want to be held, he wanted to go find Mom. Lengthening his body until his front legs were on the floor and she was holding his middle he made a mad dash towards the door.

"Jake! Come back!"

She was shouting for him but he was scampering towards the door, too fast for her to catch despite still having hold of his magically stretched rear end. He skidded around the door frame, overstretched and bumped into the corridor wall opposite in his haste. Jake picked himself up and would have kept running but something was in his way. Long red boots were hovering just above his head, they touched the floor in front of him and revealed themselves to be attached to the legs of the dark lady.

Jake stared up and then up some more into her pale face; she stared back at him for a second before she scooped down and took his head and shoulders in her arms, letting his stretched middle trail behind her as she swept back into the laboratory with him.

"Need some help, Bonnie?" she said to the other lady, who was busily reeling his midsection back to the rest of him. He sighed sadly and let it shrink back to normal size, connecting his front and rear with an audible twang. He would find Mom another time.

"Thanks. If you hadn't come down soon I was going to go wake you myself, it's only a few hours off sunset."

The nice lady tucked Jake back under her arm. He wiggled a little, wanting to be put down some place he could nap at least.

Noticing his plight, the dark lady put out her hands to him and he sniffed her cautiously. She smelled like honey soap and like strawberries and sleep. Jake wasn't really an expert at smelling people's emotions yet but she seemed somehow more relaxed than she had last night. He decided she was a nice person even if she looked a bit scary, she hadn't done anything to hurt him and the nice princess lady seemed happier when she was there. She was a kind dark lady, not scary at all.

Wagging his tail a little he wiggled closer until the nice lady handed him over and he settled comfortably into the cradle created by the dark lady's arms, sighing as his eyes shut and resting his head against her strong cool hands. From nowhere she'd somehow produced his blue blanket and he let out a happy little yip as she wrapped it around his shoulders like a cape.

"He's tired." he heard her murmur to the nice lady, rocking him gently and drifting over to where his new friend was napping in a softly blanketed basket. Gently Jake felt himself lowered to the blankets too and he yawned again, turning a couple of circles on top of the sheets before he settled down and got comfortable for his nap.

"Most species sleep at night, Bonnibel. These guys are so little they need lots of naps too. Joshua told me. I didn't know either."

"Honestly Marceline, I knew that! I just had trouble getting him to settle, that's all."

The dark lady sounded a bit smug, the nice pink lady a little defensive. But nobody seemed angry or sad so he relaxed and nuzzled closer to Finn who grabbed his ear and shifted in his sleep to curl around the puppy. Jake wiggled happily as he heard a hum begin, a tune he didn't know but still recognizably a lullaby. It wasn't quite as good as his Mom's but it was relaxing and the melody was a soft rolling that made him think of grassy green hills. Words followed quietly, falling like snow onto his tired ears and causing flickering impressions in his mind of rolling green moors under a rainy sky, the kind of soft quiet that fell over the land with the gentle rain when all the birds where roosting and the wind dropped to a whisper.

 _Are you going to Scarborough fair?_  
 _Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme._  
 _Remember me to one who lives there._  
 _She was once a true love of mine..._

The song continued but Jake had stopped listening to the words. There was silence for a few minutes when it ended and Jake slipped further into dreams, but he was still conscious to the comforting murmur of soft voices even if he couldn't make out what they were saying exactly.

"Marcy?"

"Hm?"

"I was going to return your shirt, you know."

"Yeah."

"Last night. Were you…"

"Was I what?"

"Nothing."

Jake finally slipped into dreams. He was in the kitchen at home again. Mom was making herby chicken and bacon soup for him while his Dad rocked him by the fire. He smiled in his sleep and snuggled even closer into Finn who wrapped a little arm around his friend's chest.

The only sounds in the lab were the deep breathing of two sleeping babies and a small muffled sigh, as though one woman had just laid her head onto the shoulder of another woman that she desperately wanted to say a lot to, but didn't know how to start.

...

A letter arrived by messenger that night, scratched rapidly in a slanting hand.

 _Your Majesty,_

 _As instructed I have located the human child. It appears he was rescued from the woods of Candy Kingdom by the vampire Marceline Abadeer and is now being protected by her. Somehow the boy escaped your agents and found his way into her care; from what my spies have seen of them she is already emotionally bonded to him and it will be a difficult task to separate them. Such an occurrence could not have been foreseen and I beg mercy from your wrath, your majesty. She is also in the company of Joshua the Dog and his shape changing son, your other named enemy. Your agents destroyed the Dog's wife and elder son but somehow the father and younger son escaped and met up with your other quarry. This is a blow to your plans, Dark Majesty, but it could be turned to our advantage as both children are now within striking distance in the same place, in the house inside Abadeer's cave. So far as our scouts can make out there's no escape from the cave's back and they are not so heavily armed. While the Dog and Abadeer herself are formidable opponents a reasonably well equipped force could remove them. But if I may be so bold as to offer a word of caution, tread carefully around the vampire my Lord. She is much stronger than she seems and is in possession of some unusual powers, thanks in part to the interaction of her demon heritage with her vampire talents. If the Lord of Evil was to discover you were responsible for the death of his only child the results could be unpleasant. They are mostly estranged these days but Abadeer Senior is surprisingly careful with his offspring, it would be more advisable to take the human child by force and leave the woman alive if you can although preferably incapacitated in some way that prevents her interfering further in your plans. In your weakened state it would be imprudent to risk provoking all-out war with Lord Evil._ _I will continue to observe but if I do not hear back from you by sunset tomorrow I will take a force into the cave and retrieve the children myself._

 _I remain,_

 _Your Faithful General_

He burned it to a crisp as soon as he was done reading it, frowning down at the body of the messenger who's skull he'd crushed once the letter was delivered. It wouldn't do to get on the wrong side of Hunson, not just yet anyway. They had an uneasy truce for what it was worth, but without his full capabilities he could not be certain of besting Hunson Abadeer in a direct conflict. One day he would discover if the Lord of Evil was truly as invulnerable as his reputation suggested and then he would plan accordingly, but he could see no reason for a truly immortal being to wish his daughter to take over the family business, or to procreate at all. If Abadeer was handing the reins over it could only mean that he was thinking of retirement. That must mean Abadeer was becoming an old man and it was the special preserve of old men to eventually die. He smiled thinly. Hunson dead was a heartening prospect.

Still thoughtful he looked around the dark earth of his pit and caressed the pulsing red crystal gleaming ominously on a thick chain around his neck. This new form was troublesome, thinking and feeling things that he'd never had to deal with before and simultaneously unable to process the feelings to which one version of himself was accustomed. Somewhere deep within him he knew that the events in his future had changed something fundamental about him, changed the very fabric of his existence. He wanted someone to pay for that. Revenge was a mortal concern, a concept of the flesh that he had never experienced in his past. He tried to drown the feeling deep inside himself but it refused to die, glowing red hot like a burning coal in his mother's fire place. His mother- no, he had no mother. He was not mortal, he'd known no sweet gentleness or the comforts of a family. He was the blackness between the stars, the darkness without end. He had never worn specially pressed pyjamas.

"Ralquinn!" he rasped through the ruin that used to be a mouth. His fist tightened around the gem for a moment as he imagined crushing his enemies before him. They would pay, it was their faults. A moment later the thin sly face of his impeccably dressed demon servant appeared before him, bowing his pointed grey nose until it touched the ground.

"Fetch Ja'an the Assassin. I have work for her."

Ralquinn's face split into a malevolent grin as he bowed low again, yellow needle fangs gleaming in the low light.

"Yes Master, I live to serve." he muttered in a voice like bones snapping, shifting his shape into a thick greyish mist and oozing from the room through the cracks in the ceiling where huge tree roots had thrust down through solid rock. The roots were black and dead now, shrivelled in their holes and just wide enough to allow a trickle of demonic mist to ascend to the world above. They had stairs of course but Ralquinn did love his amateur theatrics.

The demon was a real find, his love of both giving and receiving pain was matched only by his ruthlessly cold intellect. It was a pity he would eventually be forced to kill such a useful servant, but for now Ralquinn fit his purposes beautifully.

He smiled in the darkness. He could almost taste the hot salty blood of the newly born heroes trickle down where his throat used to be. They had defied him too many times as adults and there was no honour in killing babes, but he was not an honourable man. Honour was a concept of mortals and he was not a mortal, could not be a mortal. Thoughts moved so much more slowly in this ruined body he inhabited in this time but he still had his resolve. Kill the heroes; take their strength. Renew himself to his former glory and continue on in his way, unimpeded. No longer be trapped in his bewildering flesh prison, no longer crave mortal comforts like a kiss on the forehead or his mother's baking. He would become the antithesis of nature once again.

...

It was mid-morning when the doors to the palace's throne room burst open and Joshua the Dog strode in accompanied by his old friend Billy and several of their former acquaintances. He looked stronger but still careworn if someone who knew him well took the time to look. Like he'd not slept properly in days which was almost certainly true. Even the night he'd spent in the palace he'd mostly passed pacing his room and mumbling to himself, fretting over the boys and staring out of the window wondering where in the world his nameless enemy was hiding.

"Da!" screamed Jake, rushing over to him with his tail wagging so hard his entire rear end fishtailed down the hall.

"Hey, little guy! Have you been a good pup for the princess?" Joshua laughed, scooping his son into a hug. "Look who I brought, it's Uncle Billy!" Jake peeped over his father's shoulder, a grin stretching his mouth comically large and making the big man behind him laugh. Joshua's humour sounded brittle to his comrades' ears but Jake didn't seem to notice, he was too busy sniffing his Dad all over and yipping in delight. Too many people had gone away and not come back in Jake's life recently. Joshua made a vow to himself not to be another one.

"Hi there Jakey! How's my favourite little guy?" Bill asked with equally false brightness, ruffling Jake's ears and grinning down at him. Finn was peeping shyly from behind Bonnie's skirts, thumb firmly jammed in his mouth and eyes staring timidly at the strangers. He was still clutching Hambo II to his chest, drool stains very apparent on the replica bear's ears. The heroes came forward, Joshua depositing Jake back to the floor as he went, and as one they bent their knees before the princess.

"So this is the little human, hm? He's smaller than I expected" said Billy after a moment, coming forward to examine Finn. The little boy gasped and hid further behind Bonnie's legs, wobbling and sitting down again. A cough from Joshua had Billy back in line, smiling sheepishly down at his friend.

"My Lady Princess Bubblegum; Queen Marceline." Joshua added, with a sidelong glance to the rafters where Marceline hung somewhat huffily in bat form, annoyed that yet again her nap had been interrupted. "And little Prince Finn, of course. May I present to you my old friends, comrades, the remaining members of the Honour Guard; Billy the Hero, Eagle Mask, Emerald Rainicorn and Olgar Snow Blood."

Each bowed in turn, Emerald Rainicorn twisting fussily through the air and coming down low so that the length of her long verdant horn gleamed directly at Bonnie, who bowed back in turn to each of them.

"The Honour Guard was disbanded years ago after Billy got his captain killed, wasn't it?" Marceline asked sharply, dropping back to the floor into her usual form. She was wearing her least impressed expression on her face; apparently four elderly heroes come out of retirement hadn't been the kind of reinforcements she'd been hoping for. "What makes you think they're going to be any help in protecting Finn?"

She glared around at the greying adventurers, each fearsome by reputation but none a friend to vampires as a general rule. Billy's face hardened at the mention of the murder of Goltan Tarrick but he said nothing in his defence, no doubt he still blamed himself for his old mentor's murder.

Bonnie stood frozen between them, visibly uncomfortable and unsure what to say. It wasn't often she was lost for words but people's general low opinion of vampires was one of the few things she felt it was wrong to wade into; as she'd told Marceline years before she believed people's minds needed to be changed by members of the vampire community or nothing would ever be achieved. She briefly wondered if that was what was going to happen now or if the Honour Guard were going to have a problem working with a vampire, even a dedicated vegetarian one.

The Guard members stared back at Marceline warily as though sizing her up, the silence broken only by Jake's continued excited yips as he squirmed around by his father's feet. After a few tense moments Eagle Mask suddenly stepped forward, dropped back to her knee and bent her head. Her comrades snapped their eyes to her and the one Billy had introduced as Olgar Snow Blood bared his teeth but they each held their peace for now, waiting to see what Eagle would say.

"Any friend of her Highness Bubblegum is a friend of ours. And these boys need protection, we're oath-bound to that. The Honour Guard as an organised movement are disbanded but we still keep our oaths. Defend the innocent, serve the good."

The others mumbled the their oath chant-like in unison a second after her her, reluctantly holding their right fist upright at head height in their trademark salute.

Marceline was momentarily speechless; of all the things she'd expected she'd never have guessed the vicious Eagle Mask to submit to her gracefully. She just nodded and shared a startled glance with Bonnie as Eagle stood back up, as hard and straight as if she was a cast bronze statue. Eagle Mask had a fearsome reputation; in her youth she'd killed ogres and demons, wrestled sea monsters and somehow acquired the magical bird mask after which she fashioned her hero name. Nobody knew where she was from or even what her face looked like, she was a mystery.

Marceline had never met the tall woman before but it was rumoured that she never ever took off the magical bronze eagle that hid her face; that to do so was the only way to kill her. Despite it seeming like a ridiculous myth Marceline stored it away as useful information for the future in case Eagle Mask turned traitorous. From what she'd heard of the woman it seemed unlikely that she'd break an oath but it never paid to be unprepared. Realistically it seemed pretty implausible that the tall woman's only weakness was a mask; no magical object could grant invulnerability that strong to a mortal. And if Eagle was anything other than mortal Marceline felt sure she'd have heard of it or been able to tell, the undead knew their own kind.

The heroine's hands showed definite signs of age and the two long braids bound in matching blue that hung on either side of her mask were almost completely silver, but her arms were strongly muscled where they protruded from her darker blue tunic and the enormous sword slung across her back was clearly not the weapon of a weakling. Marceline studied the other woman as she stood to rigid attention, finally coming to the conclusion that Eagle was probably trustworthy, so far as anyone was. She might even be good enough to defend Finn in a pinch if nobody else was available.

"Thank you, Eagle Mask." she murmured, motioning the woman to step back in line. It was completely ridiculous but she had been address by her royal title so she supposed she'd better follow the archaic protocols. And they were in the throne room, much as she hated it she had to act like a stuck-up royal now or risk losing what ever respect the Honour Guard held for her.

Olgar Snow Blood was a different matter again. He wore a large silver hammer and raven around his neck and the shape of his helmet indicated he was an elder of the Mountain Vikings, still physically imposing despite the silver sprayed liberally through his plaited purple beard. The big man was glaring at her with outright hostility and his heavily lined eyes narrowed as she looked around at the rest of the Guard and he noticed her gaze resting on him, beard quivering in indignation.

"Eagle, what are you doing bowing to the daughter of Lord Evil? We're honour bound to serve the good, not monsters!"

He glared at his comrade's back but she didn't pay any attention when addressed by him. Turning back to Marceline when it was obvious Eagle Mask would not oblige to reply he continued his tirade.

"And you, standing there bold as day, making my Eagle bow to you! You're not a fit guardian for the little prince, I ought to cut your head off your shoulders-"

The big man stuttered to a stop at a wordless gesture from Eagle, and Marceline smiled slightly to herself when she noticed the braided golden bands they both wore on their left hands glint in the diffuse light even as the reflected sun made her eyes water a little. It was an intelligent wife's job to keep a headstrong husband in check and she admired Eagle Mask all the more for it. The legendary Olgar Snow Blood brought to heel like a common mutt by a gesture from his wife was something she didn't think she would ever tire of seeing. Still, it wouldn't do to let the big Mountain Viking get away with speaking to her like that. He'd broken at least a dozen protocols and while she despised using her royal status it was at least useful for occasions when idiots threatened her life right to her face. An intelligent enemy would have sneaked up and tried to behead her when she wasn't looking; Olgar had made a rookie mistake.

"Snow Blood, the Mountain Viking. Yeah I've heard of you. Thick blade, thicker skull. You'd do well to keep your tone civil when dealing with a queen a hundred times older and a thousand times stronger than yourself. I assure you," she continued in her silkiest, deadliest tones, "that my intentions toward Finn are entirely pure. I found him, I saved him. I could have drained his blood in a second and tossed his lifeless corpse into the undergrowth but as you can see, I didn't. He needs me and believe me when I say that you do not want to see the terrible carnage I would cause if anyone tried to harm him. I can absolutely assure you I have no interest in drinking his blood; as you can see I'm quite well fed and generally make a point of _not_ drinking the life from sentient beings. I don't enjoy it when dinner punches me in the face. Finn is probably safer with me than he would be with any other person in this room."

She glanced towards the Viking, catching a glint of steely resolve in Olgar's lilac eyes before he covered it with a demure bow and knew he remained unconvinced. Olgar could be a threat, he definitely ranked higher on her potential enemy list than any of the other former Honour Guard members. Goltan had died and the Guard disbanded before Joshua could be formally inducted into their ranks but he clearly trusted his old friends and under most other circumstances she would have too, their reputation was unimpeachable. But the faithful Dog's sense of judgement was severely compromised; he'd lost half his family in one night and the look in his eyes wasn't entirely sane as he stood to the side, shoulders hunched and a manic grin plastered across his face as Jake ran around his legs. He also sometimes seemed to be whispering to himself. Perhaps he was just blind to Olgar's hostility because he knew the man so well but Marceline had a bad feeling that Joshua was slipping in his judgement. She wondered what he'd had to tell Olgar to get him to agree to come, whether her presence had even been mentioned to the big Viking.

She bent down to Finn and he came smiling and stumbling into her arms, babbling at her and waving Hambo II. Holding her boy close they drifted higher and away from Olgar, out of the reach of his massive hands. He glared at how casually she picked up the baby but there was little he could do about it; legally she was acting within her remit as a queen to protect any citizen of her own Kingdom, and since Finn was human he counted as essential 'pre-vampire' and therefore if she wanted to stretch the legality he could be considered her subject. She'd written the laws that way herself, to more easily protect the remaining humans when she'd taken her vow to them all those centuries ago. Not that Olgar knew that, she doubted he paid more attention to legal loopholes than fulfilling his anti-vampire prejudices.

The Mountain Viking tribe weren't usually known for their subtlety; whatever Olgar had planned he would make his move sooner rather than later. Marceline snorted, shaking her head a little to clear her thoughts like a common dog shaking water from their coat. So many strangers in the palace were making her edgy, or perhaps it was the need to speak in her best diplomatic royal voice instead of her preferred casual drawl. Possibly it was just the necessity of being in close proximity to Bonnie; they'd not really spoken all day but the atmosphere was electric, like she could have reached across and plucked out a tune on the tension in the air between them. It was very nearly exciting, if Marceline had been more of a masochist she might even have enjoyed the nervous churning in her gut every time the other woman accidentally brushed against her cool skin. It sent shock waves through her, made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up in a not entirely unpleasant way. And she was beginning to drive herself crazy with it all. Now the Guard were there too, four more sets of eyes to potentially notice the way she leapt upwards a few inches every time she heard Bonnibel's voice. Unbearable.

She wanted to get Finn away from them, figuring Bonnie was better at working out the details anyway since she'd asked the Guard there in the first place. And besides, Marceline could use a break from constantly being on edge. Olgar was still watching her and she could feel the enmity radiating from him in hot waves, like he could knock her out of the air with his eyes if he glared hard enough. She wondered in passing which family member of his had been killed by vampires, she'd come up against this attitude often enough to recognise it pretty much instantly.

"Hey little dude," she murmured in Finn's ear, "wanna go flying?"


	7. Chapter 7

**I feel pretty guilty about the lack of updates. So have another chapter, and possibly a one shot later if I get bored with fixing my cosplay. Do you want to see anything particular as a one shot? Challenge me, I'll write it for you! I do love challenges.**

 **Also, I got my first review! Thank you, you made my day! Did I tell you guys I adore you? I do, readers are the best!**

 **Content warning; nothing too awful but this chapter does feature a little bit of kinkiness, alcohol, implied mid air naughtiness.**

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It was still very bright, not the best time of day for her to be outside but Marceline had had the foresight to bring her hat and gloves to the throne room with her so she hurriedly pulled them on and swooped out of the window with Finn without a backwards glance, his shrill screams of delight echoing around the courtyard. She could be so stubborn sometimes, rude too. It annoyed Bonnibel and she was sure the vampire did it on purpose just because she could. Technically as a visiting queen she outranked a princess and as such could be granted the freedom of the palace once she'd been formally accepted as a guest. So bailing on their other guests and taking her little boy flying instead was perfectly acceptable if she was the sort of person to follow the letter of royal protocol. Bonnie _knew_ she wasn't, she hated almost everything about being a royal. But Finn did deserve to enjoy the benefits of having an aerial guardian, his rapturous face whenever she flew anywhere with him was plenty worth the rule bending. It still annoyed Bonnibel though.

She shook her head fondly despite her misgivings; she'd been treated to a few mid air trips with Marcy herself in the past and had never gotten tired of the feeling of total freedom, the way her heart raced as they sped through the clouds together.

The Honour Guard stared at Marceline and Finn's departure but none chose to comment on it, still bound by the formal rules until they were invited to speak freely. Perhaps they were re-evaluating Marcy; for her sake Bonnie certainly hoped so. They'd known each other so well for so long that despite how hurtful she could be when they rowed it was a shock to Bonnie now when others didn't instinctively trust her oldest friend. It was easy for her to forget that vampires were generally reviled when the one she knew best was more likely to trick her into spending the night talking under the stars than suck the blood from her veins. But if she was honest Bonnie knew Marceline was the exception and not the rule, she'd been forced to kill many of her own subjects who'd strayed too far into their dark sides and it was a burden Marcy had never been able to talk about. She point blank refused to answer any detailed questions about her time amongst other vampires.

Finn's laughs grew distant but Bonnibel wasn't really worried about him, not when he was with Marceline. Despite their current hostility she trusted the vampire completely and knew she'd never hurt Finn. Her undead reflexes made it was almost impossible for her to drop him anyway and Marceline had hundreds of years of practice soaring through the sky with Bonnie in her arms. Finn was lighter if more likely to wiggle around and try to fly on his own. A traitorous corner of her memory chose that moment to remind her that Finn was also much less likely to distract Marcy by softly trailing kisses along the length of her neck and jawbone until she shivered and turned her head to return the affections hungrily, hovering in the air with Bonnie gripping her arms tightly.

No matter how hard she tried not to recall it the scene played like a movie across her inner vision.

 _"Mm, hey, what are you- ah! Right here? In mid air?"_

 _"We're a mile above the ground and it's pitch dark, there's not even any moonlight. Unless there are other vampires around I don't think we need to worry about being seen. And you're not gonna drop me, are you?"_

 _"I don't want you to get cold..."_

 _"But I kinda like the way the cold feels now. Besides, it's exciting to fly with you, it makes my pulse race. Don't you wanna take advantage of that?"_

 _"You, Bonnibel, are amazingly filthy sometimes. And I love it."_

She pushed the memory away with a tight ache of regret in her heart and turned back to the present and the heroes assembled in front of her, carefully avoiding eye contact as she murmured the protocol niceties to them. Nobody commented on the slight traitorous flush she could feel spreading across her cheeks at the memory but she thought she could make out Eagle questioningly raise the edge of one silvered eyebrow behind her mask. It only made her blush harder; had the older woman noticed the wistful cast to her face when she stared out of the window? Ignoring the heat suddenly swirling through her at the recollection was increasingly difficult. Bonnie looked around for a distraction, desperate not to meet the eyes of the watching Honour Guard. She felt exposed, like somehow they could all read her impure thoughts right out of her head. Perhaps Eagle could; who knew what strange powers that magical mask granted her.

Jake's tiny paws slithered snake-like from behind her throne, snatched Hambo II from where he lay discarded on the floor and reeled him across the room for another session of intense ear chewing. She sighed in relief at the obvious diversion and made a mental note to make sure the puppy had a special toy of his own soon, Finn didn't seem to be the best at sharing and she'd seen the jealousy written large on Jake's face when the other boy was cuddling his new teddy.

When it became obvious that the princess' thoughts were occupied elsewhere the Honour Guard excused themselves from her presence with deferential murmurs. Peppermint Butler came forward from his discreet position by the door to attend to their needs and usher them out politely but speedily. He was watching her closely but just nodded slightly when she risked a glance his way. Peppermint was tactful and considerate, he could see when his mistress needed some time alone. Never once had he taken it upon himself to lecture her about Marceline, never once had he ever brought it up if she hadn't asked him a question about it directly. She owed him so much more than just the simple loyalty between servant and mistress.

Joshua stayed just long enough to make sure his son had suffered no ill effects from being left behind at the palace overnight before he too retired for the afternoon. They'd travelled constantly since he'd left the morning previously without taking a break to eat or sleep, collecting former comrades and returning with as much haste as possible. He was eager to take a nap and regain his full faculties. Bonnie couldn't help but worry about the Dog's mental balance and feel that maybe just a quick nap wouldn't be enough to remove the slightly deranged look from his eyes. She wished she had time to sit and talk to him properly, counsel him through his grief as best she could.

With the state Joshua had been in before he left Bonnie could thoroughly understand why he was so tired. He exuded an aura of grief and exhaustion, the lines and shadows around his eyes seemed to have grown deeper every time she looked. Peppermint directed them all out of the hall with a promise of a suite of rooms each and a hot meal to be delivered directly. The door swung shut on the throne room and Bonnie was alone again with her thoughts and apparently with Jake who had been left in her care almost as an afterthought. Strange that Joshua had just wandered off without thinking to check who was looking after his son. It bothered Bonnie; Joshua seemed less and less stable by the hour. She resolved to watch him closely.

It was the first time since Marceline had shown up out of the blue that she'd had a chance to really think about things; she resisted the urge to think more about those intensely distracting memories again. They plagued her in her dreams at night but that was no excuse to allow them to intrude into her waking hours too. Yesterday she'd managed to keep herself busy in the lab and other than that dangerous moment when Marceline had come in and sang one of her hypnotizing pre-war lullabies she'd been more or less alone with the little boys all day. They'd really grown on her, both such sweet little guys. But despite the two charming boys in her care Bonnibel's thoughts had kept being drawn back to the cold woman asleep in her bed. She'd tried to play with Finn and Jake and all she could think of was the way Marceline seemed to come intensely more alive when she sang. Bonnie tried to focus on her science and she'd felt the ghosts of cool sweet lips across her skin. Too distracting, too much for her to deal with on top of everything else.

On the topic of her elegant vampire friend Bonnie knew she was never going to be objective but it was obvious to her that as much as she was the same as ever Marcy had also changed somehow. Bonnie was certain she wasn't the only person to notice it. Even Peppermint Butler had commented on how gentle the vampire was with both little boys when they'd been playing earlier that day. She was still recognisably the same impulsive trickster with the same easy smile that made Bonnie's heart speed up in not entirely healthy ways. And she was still quick tempered and surprisingly introspective, still wrestling with the demons of her past and shutting almost everyone out. But now that she had Finn relying on her Marceline was beginning to open up about her feelings, swallowing her pride for the benefit of someone else, thinking before she spoke. Of all the things Bonnie had expected to feel about that she hadn't ever thought deeply attracted would be the overwhelming reaction but it was hard to deny the way she felt when her heart hammered in her chest every time Marceline took a moment to think before opening her mouth.

It was weirdly frustrating; just when she felt like she'd finally had a handle on the other woman and been able to more or less predict her moods she went and changed everything again and left Bonnie feeling just as wrong footed and confused as ever. She tried not to think about it but her mind wouldn't let her rest, it kept circling back around to the infuriating puzzle that was Marceline. Eventually Bonnie decided she needed more of a distraction to take her mind off things. She turned to the corner where Jake was sitting watching her speculatively with almost all of Hambo II's lower body crammed in his mouth.

"Hey little guy, do you like to draw? I'm sure I have some paper and pens around here somewhere."

"Yes! Drawing!" Jake crowed happily, pulling the teddy bear out of his mouth and wiggling his fingers into the shape of pencils, making Bonnie laugh. He was a good distraction, too cheerful and energetic for her to spend time trapped in her own memories. She stood and turned to the small antechamber behind her throne where she kept a selection of the more urgent stationary required by a working monarch.

Jake hurried after her, choosing a dizzying array of pens and pencils until he was satisfied he had one of every single shade she owned and stretched his arms twice their length to accommodate them all. His eyes were wide as he toddled back out to the throne room, panting happily about the number of pens. They sat comfortably at the foot of the throne and drew picture after picture on Bonnie's official Candy Kingdom writing paper, the childish scribbles looking odd against her formal seal and coat of arms. Jake seemed to have a pretty abstract grasp of shapes but he was an expert at mixing colours and was cheerfully covered in ink stains and babbling excitedly about his masterpieces by the time they were interrupted.

Marceline plummeted through the window in a perfectly graceful spiral with a windswept Finn beaming at them from her arms, landing with silent grace right in front of the throne and adjusting her hat jauntily. She seemed to be in much better spirits for getting out in the open air, at least. The slight burns on her biceps from where she'd caught the sun were already fading from view, but Bonnie still felt a pang of sadness that her friend was always in some degree of pain through the day.

"Your elderly hero posse gone for their afternoon naps then? Lucky, wish I was asleep too. Little guy was nearly sick on me." she grumbled, but there was no real heat in it and she bounced Finn gently in her arms as he gurgled and blew raspberries at her.

Bonnie was going to reply that he was probably getting motion sick and she should be more careful because Finn was just a baby, but before she could open her mouth Jake toddled over and solemnly presented Marceline with a picture he'd drawn, a bright red squiggle topped with a green squiggle and surrounded by yellow squiggles, set upon a Candy Kingdom Tax Requisition form. He seemed to consider it his finest work and gazed worriedly at Marcy's face while she studied it.

She flashed her trademark impish smile at him, the one that had made everyone she'd ever known immediately do whatever it was she wanted of them. _The one that makes my knees weak. Stop thinking that._

"It's an apple, right? You remembered that apples are my favourite! I love it, thank you Jake!"

She grinned hugely and scooped him up too so he could snuggle into Finn and sniffle at her face. Jake smiled, satisfied with himself, and settled into the hug. Unexpectedly he sat up after a moment and looked Marceline dead in the eyes with a very severe expression on his little face as though he'd just remembered something terribly important.

"Princess is pretty." Jake informed her in a serious voice. "Pretty pretty." He nodded earnestly at the bewildered expressions on both women's faces following this pronouncement.

"Uhh. Yeah Jake, she is. A very pretty princess."

Was it just her imagination, or was Marcy blushing? It was hard to tell under the shadow from her hat but Bonnie would swear she saw darker splotches of purple-grey high on her cheekbones. She was blushing too and turned away quickly so that Marceline wouldn't see.

Unbidden another memory rose in her mind, the night Marceline had shown up for their date with a huge bouquet of roses and awkwardly stammered about how pretty Bonnie had looked with her hair curled up. Sometimes she would be unexpectedly thoughtful, sometimes adorably clumsy, but her compliments were always so sweet and genuine. The flip side was that when they rowed Bonnie knew for certain Marceline always meant every word; she really did think she was no better than a whore for gracefully accepting gifts from suitors she had no intention of dating. She hoped so hard that that was one of the things that had changed.

Before Bonnie really had a chance to observe her friend further the bell rang to announce dinner and Marceline turned towards the doors, the ghost of the blush still lingering on her cheeks.

"We'd better go; I wouldn't want to be responsible for Peppermint ripping his minty chunks off with worry over our tardiness."

She swept from the room with the boys, leaving Bonnie to trail towards the dining hall in their wake.

It couldn't last forever with the threats that they faced but Bonnie was glad to see her friend finally seeming happy again even if it caused strange aches all over her body to watch but not really be a part of that happiness. Finn was a genuine pleasure to have around; so long as he had his thumb in his mouth and his teddy bear tucked under one arm he would cheerfully entertain himself for hours. He was friendly and funny, always smiling and rarely cried. Add a trouble seeking missile like Jake to the mix and they were an unstoppable dynamo.

Finn had already learnt that he could walk for quite a distance using Jake as support and the little Dog was more than happy to trot by his new friend's side, investigating interesting smells and stretching them both up to worryingly high places. Marcy had had to rescue them twice from a high windowsill, rushing to their side the moment Finn had begun to sound distressed.

The second time he'd giggled and clapped as she approached him at top speed, blind panic written in every line of her tense body. He'd clearly worked out that her protective nature made for a brilliantly entertaining game and she'd scolded him for a good five minutes before he smiled his angelic smile at her then tugged on a strand of her hair and tried to jam his thumb into her open mouth. It was almost impossible for Bonnie to hide her smile at the tender, startled look on Marcy's face.

...

Bonnie continued to watch Marceline closely throughout dinner, sliding long glances at her from the corner of her eye. Marceline was acting even more mercurial than usual, one minute taciturn and evading her, the next seeming to going out of her way to annoy Bonnie. She was nervous about something, she always acted magnificently bi-polar when she got nervous.

Even after all those centuries Bonnie couldn't get her head around the other woman, she was a total contradiction. A vegetarian vampire who only drank blood when there was absolutely no other food available, a queen without a kingdom, an immortal who chose to never grow up. But she was growing now, maturing even if she denied it with her every breath. It was Finn's doing; Bonnie was sure of it. He'd achieved in a couple of days what Bonnibel couldn't in centuries, he'd made Marceline consider herself as an adult and move over to let someone else be the child. It must be some sort of miracle or a kind of magic; Bonnibel still had no idea how the little boy had done it.

She watched closely as Finn cheerfully ate a drained cherry; the greyish flesh of food Marceline had drank the colour from never stopped being slightly unsettling to her. The boys were fascinated by the way she ate and would gasp and clap every time she sucked the red from a piece of fruit. Marceline caught her staring and deliberately met her gaze, slowly flicking her long forked tongue over the strawberry she held before she slowly sucked the colour from it, bringing a deep blush to Bonnie's cheeks. Oh fantastic, she was back to being irritating.

"Dinner good, Bonnibel?" she inquired innocently. Bonnie took a moment to compose herself before answering, heart racing.

"Wonderful. Just... fine, thanks." she mumbled, cursing herself for her stupidity. Why did Marceline always make her feel like her brain had shut down? Just because she was sexy and mysterious and seductive...

Bonnie pushed her food around her plate, sighing. There was no denying that being in close quarters with her ex-lover was sparking her feelings but she was torn over how to act. Give in and they could very easily end up back in the same old cycle of intense fighting and violent rows, equally intense passionate reconciliation and more rows because they were both just too much in each other's heads. Marceline would always have a hold on her; she had a subtle influence that made Bonnie turn to her like a flower towards the sun whenever she was in the room. But she was never ever serious or open with her emotions and it drove Bonnie crazy that she couldn't read her any deeper than the most superficial things. If she pushed her away now it would probably be the end, the absolute and final end this time. Bonnie wasn't sure she was ready to just let Marceline go, no matter how infuriating she was. No, it couldn't be completely over. She didn't know how it could work or if it ever really would work, just that this was not the end for them. Not yet. There was still too much to happen, she just knew it.

But now something had changed. Now the formerly laconic vampire was smiling gently and cooing at Finn, getting him to open his mouth and let her feed him a spoonful of strained pears as he banged his little fists happily against his high chair. The way she was with that little boy, with both of them really... Bonnie would never have believed the same emotionally repressed punk rocker she'd know from centuries past could ever be so gentle and open. It was hard not to stare at her with dreamy doe-eyes like a little girl with her first crush. Bonnie hated to admit it but she was struggling to reconcile this new Marceline with the woman she'd already shared centuries with. She hated mysteries and she hated not knowing something; not knowing if this change would last was even more maddening than her usual Marceline-induced insanity. Her brain felt itchy just trying to work it all out.

Marceline caught her gaze again and took a long sip of wine from her glass then licked her lips slowly, eyes never leaving Bonnie's face. Bonnie flushed again but refused to be further abashed by the other woman, she took an extra-large bite of sweet potato to cover her embarrassment then choked as it scalded her throat, coughing and spluttering until Marcy rolled her eyes and flew over to thump her back.

"You're not meant to inhale it, Bon." she said with a teasing grin and reached forward to fetch Bonnie her glass of wine.

"No, it's ok, I've got it-" Bonnie started in a rush, grabbing for the wine herself. Their hands collided and the glass toppled over, spilling its contents all over Marceline's sleeve. Bonnie froze, mortified, but the vampire just laughed nervously and raised her hand to her face, drawing her tongue across her fingers to taste the wine.

"You always had excellent taste." she said with a strange smile, eyes burning intensely. What emotion was that hidden behind those green eyes? Bonnie wished Marceline had ever let her in deep enough to be able to read her.

"Marcy, please-" Bonnie began with a sigh. She didn't know how she was going to end that sentence and was saved the effort of it by Marceline holding out her wine soaked hand, inviting Bonnie to try it herself.

"Want to try some?" she murmured, repressing her grin with difficulty. The boys were watching this exchange in fascination, Jake with a half chewed strip of chicken still hanging from his mouth. And damn her, she was deliberately referencing _that_ night, when they'd both been tipsy and ended up sticky and stinking like a brewery; because she knew Bonnie was so ashamed she'd allowed herself to get seduced into doing something so kinky and disgraceful. _And you enjoyed it, didn't you?_ She snarled at the internal voice but it was undeniable; yes, she had rather enjoyed it.

Her cheeks flamed a deep magenta, why did Marceline always have to do the very thing that would most humiliate her? Bonnie had had enough humiliation for one day and she refused to play the other woman's nervous head games any more; she pushed herself way from the table and stalked out of the doors without another word, taking care not to let herself run although she desperately wanted to. All the reasons she'd had for avoiding Marceline after their last row came flooding back to her mind; the constant pranks, humiliating her in front of her guests for entertainment, she always took the joke way further than was appropriate. She'd never expected the vampire to stay away for six whole months but then that was just Marceline all over, taking things way too far. Bonnie fled through the empty hallways to the sanctuary of her private garden, anger at her own stupidity pulsing hot like blood around her body and a quiet voice in the back of her head whispering all the shameful thoughts she'd ever had about the other woman, all the immoral and deliciously unladylike behaviour she'd taken part in.

Marceline watched in shock as the pink hem of Bonnie's dress whipped out of the door. She knew her friend was tense right now but she'd been trying so damn hard to be her normal self around her, lighten the mood with a few jokes. Honestly, the thing with the wine had been _funny_.

There was a time when she would have huffed and told herself that Bonnie just needed to lighten up and learn to appreciate a good prank; it wasn't like anyone but the two of them would get the reference to the night they'd ignored the glasses and drank the wine from each other instead. But now she reconsidered and could admit that her nerves had pushed her to make some pretty awful choices, that maybe if the situation was reversed she would fail to find the funny side in it too. Everything that had happened was piling up on her and suddenly she was bone weary, sick of always upsetting Bonnibel and sick of never being able to say the important stuff until it was too late. Her chest constricted with repressed emotion. Finn was increasingly sensitive to her moods and his bottom lip began to quiver as he gazed at her, letting out a stuttering wail that set Jake crying too.

"Shhhh," she tried soothingly but they just cried harder. She picked them both up, ignoring the way they dribbled half chewed food onto her shirt and tried to rock them gently while they howled for no other reason than they'd noticed she was sad. It hurt even worse knowing that now almost everyone she cared about in the whole world was crying because of something she'd done.

Joshua must have been close by, must have heard them because a minute later he was by her side, taking the boys and cooing to them until their whimpers eased.

"Bath and bed for these guys I reckon." he said to her, letting her see the way he took in her obviously emotional state. "It wouldn't be a bad idea for you to clean yourself up too, Marce. Take a shower and wait for the princess so you can talk in private, I'm sure she'll have forgiven whatever you did to make her run out of here growling by then."

He chuckled at her sharp look.

"I've known Princess Bubblegum for as long as I can remember and I know she heals fast from upsets. My Margaret's just the same. When you piss off your wife it's best to let her cool down for a while before you try to make amends, even if she's a fast recovery. Just try to see it from her point of view, she's sensitive and very used to getting her own way."

"I- we're not together, she's not my wife!" Marceline muttered, a dull purple blush working its way into her pale cheeks. Joshua just quirked a speculative look at her and chuckled again.

"Give it a bit of time then."

He strode off with the boys towards the nursery, calling for the staff to half fill the bathtub as he went. He was muttering to himself as he left the hall but she dismissed it as baby talk to the boys, probably telling them not to grow up like her. It was pretty good advice; if she could talk to her past self she'd say exactly the same thing. Marceline was left staring after him, unsure if she should take his advice or not.


	8. Chapter 8

**This is a big chapter, and a difficult one from my point of view. I've hung back on posting it because there's a lot going on here and it's taken a lot of rewrites and adjustments before I've been satisfied that it's ready to post. Enjoy it and if you feel the flow leave a review because they make me cry happy tears.**

 **Serious Content Warning: somewhat graphic lesbian sex, much violence. If you're not comfortable with either of those things then from here on out This Is Not The Story For You.**

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It was twilight when Bonnie returned to her rooms, somewhat calmer but still feeling low. She had at least partly resolved to throw herself into her work from now on, avoiding as much contact as possible with anyone who could stir strong emotions in her until the dangerous vampire was out of her home. She'd avoid all conflict and just fade into the background. It wasn't a perfect plan, not even a really good one. But just considering it had calmed her somewhat and that was all she needed.

Just because Marceline and her entourage were guests at the palace for the time being didn't mean she had to be with them all day every day. She would conspire to make herself unavailable, beg off to deal with the day-to-day humdrum of running a kingdom. And there was a veritable mountain of humdrum, she could lose herself for days just organising the Candy Kingdom's pension provisions. Avoiding her ex wouldn't be so hard.

Sure she had clerks who could sign routine paperwork in her absence and the nobility were more than capable of settling their own disputes without her interference, but she needed a good enough excuse not to be around her former lover. It shouldn't be difficult to just not see her in such a big palace. She trudged back through the lamp lit halls lost in thought, unsure if her plan was brilliant or just ridiculous.

Bonnie gained the sanctuary of her rooms and sighed in relief as she closed the heavily studded doors and sank down with her back against them. The staff had been instructed not to disturb her tonight. Bonnie knew she would win no prizes for originality but on her way past the nursery to check on the boys she'd excused herself from Peppermint Butler by claiming to have a headache. She hadn't fooled her close advisor and old friend for even a second but she needed space to get her head together and the silent rooms were perfectly matched to her dark mood. He understood, like always, and allowed the lie to stand with a little flourishing bow.

Staring into the growing gloom Bonnie finally let herself unwind enough for a tear to track its way down her face, although she refused to make a sound in case anyone passing her door should come to investigate. Well-meaning platitudes weren't something she could deal with right now and despite the soundproofing her bedroom had received a long time ago she didn't want to risk having to explain herself to anyone. Shame and frustration were warring for control of her thoughts as they spiralled chaotically through her head, forcing the tears out more from anger than sadness. Anger at herself, anger at the world. Probably anger at Marceline too, she wasn't sure any more.

She sat there for a long time staring at nothing. The room was as silent as the grave, if it hadn't been for her own ragged breathing she could easily have believed she was completely alone with her thoughts. But when she stopped to consider it she knew better, she always knew better. It was just too quiet, too obviously empty. Like someone was hovering invisible in the air, not breathing or moving and trying very hard to pretend they weren't there.

After some time she stood and stretched her aching muscles, sitting against a hard door had done nothing for her back and she was uncomfortably knotted. There was no outward sign of shock on Bonnie's face as two cool hands materialised on her shoulders and began to gently massage her aches away, honestly she'd have been a little disappointed if Marcy hadn't paid her a visit after she'd run away from her at dinner. This was their pattern, this was going to end in another screaming match and maybe that would be cathartic too. She could finally let all of her frustration out in one massive violent burst.

"Marceline, get out of here." she sighed, although she made no move to push the hands away. They just felt too damn good and her sore muscles didn't want them to stop. Marceline must have read her mind because she just shifted her massage a touch lower, across Bonnie's upper back and arms. It made her shiver, that old slightly unhinged feeling she was so accustomed to around the other woman returned with a vengeance along with the familiar scandalous heat that unfurled through her body at the physical contact.

It was best to just enjoy the feeling while she could and try to brace for the inevitable row. They stood in silence for a few minutes more before a silky soft voice spoke tentatively by her ear. Bonnie frowned at the carefully considered tone; that wasn't what she'd been expecting at all. She was the controlled one, not Marceline.

"Bonnibel please just listen to what I have to say to you. I'm not going to yell and I'm not going to accuse you or anything. I want you to know I'm sorry for upsetting you today, it was immature and thoughtless. And for every other time that I did something that made you uncomfortable, I'm sorry for those too. When I played games and messed with you, it wasn't something I ever intended to hurt you with and I never meant to make you feel stupid or anything. I just... I dunno, I guess I thought you'd see the funny side? I promise this time I'm going to try my hardest not to do things like that, and if I cross a line again I want you to tell me straight away. Just please don't run off and leave me hanging. No more bottling it up, yeah? I finally understand that no matter how hard I try I can never be perfect like you want me to be. It kills me to know I donked up everything like that but I really want to try to make it at least a little bit better for both of us. I just want you be able to be in the same room as me without always analysing every exit as a possible escape route for when I inevitably hurt you. I don't want you to want to escape from me all the time. I guess what I'm really asking, can we try to be friends, maybe?"

Marceline finished in much more of a rush than she'd started, her control slipping as she spoke. Bonnie turned slowly, eyes searching the darkness before Marceline let her invisibility down and slowly faded back into view. Her eyes were downcast and she hovered just a little off the floor, pulled back slightly as though she was expecting to be ordered to leave again any second. She was worrying her bottom lip between her pointed teeth and for a moment Bonnie was distracted by watching the way she repeatedly pushed one fang into the very top layer of skin and the wound instantly disappeared as she withdrew it again.

Decisions were so hard, and so was being resolved when things turned out to be so very different to how she'd expected them. It was like she'd stepped through the looking glass; this wasn't how Marceline was supposed to act. Bonnie tried her best to take it all in but she had no idea what to say so she just opened her mouth and let words pour out from between her lips almost without her conscious control. Like a dam had broken behind her tongue.

"I never said you had to be perfect! Never! You're borderline insane and you drive me absolutely crazy when I'm with you and somehow even crazier when I'm not. You're moody and antisocial and difficult to read and you always find the very best way to annoy me. You have absolutely no impulse control! You're so wrapped up in your own stuff that you can forget I even exist for days at a time. You don't respect me, you humiliate me for kicks and then in the next breath you cling to me like I'm the only thing in the world that can keep you from drowning. And you called me a wh- that word. I can't even say it. You said such awful things to me, Marceline. I could forgive it if I knew you didn't really think that but I know you do, I know you meant every single word. You don't get to just stand there apologising and being mature about it and expect me to just forgive you like this isn't the hardest thing in the world for me too!"

"I should go." Marceline said quietly when she stopped for breath, turning to the door with shoulders hunched and her body language suddenly closed off tight. It made Bonnie mad, like a red rag to a bull. Wasn't she even allowed to speak her mind without being walked out on again? Her resolve to avoid the other woman crumbled like sand under the wind. She was furious, heart pumping heat all through her, passion and frustration colliding and spilling over into her limbs like a boiling tide. Consequences be damned, she knew what she wanted to do and she was too angry to think better about it.

"I'm not done yet!" she yelled as Marceline began to drift towards the door.

Bonnie grabbed the vampire's arm angrily and wrenched as hard as she could on the other woman. Marceline swung around, a sad sigh rather than her more usual snarl on the tip of her tongue-

And her lips collided with Bonnie's, full on the mouth as the shorter woman launched herself breathlessly, recklessly into her arms.

"And I was going to say," she gasped as the kiss finally broke, pulling back a little to look Marceline in the eye, hands wound tightly through the other woman's hair and gripping just a bit too hard for comfort, "that I actually don't want you to change all that much. I've thought about you constantly. I've missed you and your crazy ways so much it was like I might have died. And I'm sorry I treated you like a dirty secret and I'm so sorry I paraded those stupid suitors around in front of you. I just wanted a reaction, I wanted to know that I was important enough to you to make you jealous. Because you suck at telling me how you feel and I suck at reading it from your actions and you can just forget I exist for days and- I wanted to know I could make you jealous, because if you were jealous then you still cared about me."

She looked down, suddenly ashamed to finally admit it, anger turning rapidly to guilt. Part of her was flattered that she could provoke such possessive rages from her lover even after all the years they'd spent together. But she'd never meant to go so far with it. When she received no reply she guiltily raised her head to see what affect her confession had on the other woman. Marceline looked dazed and a little hurt, like she'd been slapped. But not angry, she was making no move the put Bonnibel down or try to leave the bedroom.

"You wanted to make me jealous? Well fuck, it worked."

Bonnie nodded mutely, too ashamed to speak. She supposed she'd been in denial about how much of this was her fault too.

"And you- you like when I get jealous?"

She nodded again. Grod, it hurt to admit that.

"No offence Bon but I don't think that's terribly healthy. I mean, look what it did to us. Our whole relationship is like a giant game of Russian Roulette. You couldn't have just told me?"

"I never meant for it to get out of hand like that! I just wanted to piss you off a bit so you'd… so you'd get possessive with me when we were alone, you know?"

Bonnie blushed deeply as she added the final humiliation to her confession. She hadn't known how to tell her lover that it was a little sexy when she got pissed off. It had all just gotten so very out of hand and she hadn't known how to back down gracefully, and then those awful words had come out and she hadn't wanted to back down any more, hadn't known how badly words used as weapons could hurt.

"I swear I never meant to hurt you like that or make you feel like you had to leave. So far as I'm concerned this is your home too, I mean how many nights in the last decade have you even spent at your cave house? But then you said those awful things and I was so sick of this cycle we'd gotten into, fighting and making up all the time. I was so hurt when you called me that thing and tired of you never respecting my feelings. I didn't want you to stay away for so long but every time you came back you were sneaking around invisible and it made me mad again because I just wanted to talk like adults, not play games or try to manipulate each other again. I'm sorry for it all."

Marcy stared at her in confusion. Green eyes fixed on pale pink ones made almost peach in the last of the dying sunlight glowing through the curtains. She was clearly having trouble processing what had just happened and she had a disorientated look on her lovely face, expression somewhat unfocused. This close Bonnie could see that her gaze was a pure and unbroken green, no hint of red swirling through even on the edges of her pupils. That gave her hope; it meant there was no trace of anger or betrayal in the other woman's thoughts. She hadn't dared hope Marcy would be so forgiving, so understanding.

"So, does that mean you want to... you know, fix things, between us?" Marceline asked in genuine confusion, shifting her grip on Bonnie into a more comfortable position.

"Yes. I think it does. I'm willing to try again if you are, if we both promise to try harder. To communicate more. If you'll accept my apology, of course."

She searched the vampire's face as she spoke, eyes flicking nervously all around to try to read any of what was going on in the enigmatic mind. Slowly, like the moon rising over the mountains, Marceline smiled and nodded slightly, then let her eyes flutter shut as the gap between their faces closed.

Bonnie leaned forward gently into the kiss this time, smiling against the cool lips. Suddenly she felt happier than she had been in months, lighter, like little bubbles of thoughtless joy were bursting in her veins and making her blood fizz like a lit firework. Confessing was good for the soul; she'd have to remember that. Even if she felt like a complete moron for admitting that it was partly her fault. She'd never done that before but it was kind of nice. Like they could be less than perfect together this time. Like they were equals.

They drifted together back across the room until their legs hit the bed and they collapsed in a heap onto the soft mattress. The vampire stared at her, clearly unsure what was expected of her, but Bonnibel knew how their fights ended and knew what they needed now. Besides she'd be a liar if she said she hadn't wanted this for as long as the other woman had been in the palace; being around Marceline was intoxicating. All those very good reasons to wait and think it through and talk more could just go jump off a cliff, she needed to know that they'd really made it right this time. All her anger and frustration slid away, dissolved by an entirely different kind of heat.

And there were probably at least a million reasons why it was a bad idea to let things turn physical but Bonnie couldn't bring herself to care about any of them right now, she was mesmerised by intense green eyes and the feeling that her chest might burst open with happiness and yes that so very unladylike ache of wanting. She kissed her lover hungrily and let the analytical part of her brain shut down completely, running on pure instinct.

And it was worth it, murmured apologies mingling with heated kisses, hands and lips finally finding those places where they had been most intensely missed. She didn't care any more, let go of shame and worry and all of the notions of what was 'proper' for a princess to do. It didn't happen anywhere near often enough that she just did was _she_ wanted instead of what the kingdom wanted, let herself just be a person with their own wants and needs before she let her role as monarch define her every thought and action. There were cold hands on her skin and her own heavy breathing in her ear, residual anger and frustration adding a hard edge of frantic desperation to their movements as they tangled together.

Pulling back for a moment their eyes met and she nodded consent, knowing by instinct and long practice what that unasked question was. Then her lover's fangs were pushing carefully into the flesh of her shoulder. Mingled pain and pleasure and so much urgent heat shot through her; breaking the taboo because she needed it, needed to be marked. She shuddered and let loose a stream of curses and let the feeling just wash her away, like a tidal wave crashing over them both and drowning them in each other. Vampires had a compulsion to mark their belongings, they were cold and single minded and utterly focussed. Not for anything would Bonnie have let Marceline's focus be turned anywhere but on her in that moment. The whole world shrank to contain just the two of them tangled together in the darkening room. Woven together like they'd blended into one, joined at the lips and hands and hips.

Bonnie had lost track of the time, it could have been hours later for all she knew. But eventually they stilled and lay together in the sheets, fingers entwined. She ran her free hand possessively across the gentle curve of Marceline's back and sighed contentedly as she felt her lover quiver against her touch. Still so amazingly sensitive. Sometimes they'd laid like this for hours, Marceline shivering as Bonnie ran her fingertips lightly across her pale skin just experimenting with her vulnerability to touch. The vampire gasped and grabbed her hand again, sliding closer so they were lying pressed face to face. In the gloom Marceline's exposed skin looked more silver than grey, almost glowing in the tiny amount of moonlight now beginning to filter past the curtains. Bonnie didn't even pretend not to stare. She just lay back and looked as much as she wanted, making up for six whole months of absence.

"Marcy?"

"Hm?"

"I love you so fucking much."

"I love you too, Bonnibel."

"I missed you."

It was so hard to keep her eyes open despite the gloriously naked woman by her side. She felt limp, like a puppet with cut strings, but so blissful it was almost like she was floating. Marceline was curled comfortingly against her and Bonnie was not inclined to move at all, maybe ever again. She'd given in to everything else tonight, giving in to the gentle tugging of her eyelids was just as easy. She felt Marceline shift against her, coiling her arms around Bonnie's soft figure and holding her in that long practised position they both fit so easily into. Like they'd never been apart.

...

It could have been just minutes or hours later but they were both awake in an instant as the little crystal bell rang urgently by the bed and sent Marceline shooting upwards into the air in alarm before her eyes were fully open. She strained her sensitive ears and after a moment picked up the vibrations of at least ten armed and armoured people hurrying along the secret passageway from her cave house. Panic seared through her like lightening; nobody but the two of them knew about that tunnel. She'd dug it out of the earth and palace walls herself years ago before they'd ever been anything but innocent best friends because invisibility wasn't always fool proof and Bonnie couldn't will herself intangible if she wanted to get away from the palace in any case. If someone was coming along the tunnel then the only conclusion was that that they'd broken through her latent magical protections and searched her house thoroughly, including the false floor of the walk-in cupboard in her kitchen where the trapdoor to the tunnel was hidden. She cursed herself for a fool, why hadn't she sealed it when they'd brought the boys through?

Even as Bonnie sat blinking at her in sleepy confusion she was out of the bed and across the room, grabbing her bass from where it leaned forgotten in the corner and running a finger across the edges that she still kept wickedly sharp. It paid to keep her weapon battle ready; even when it served duty as a guitar the razor sharp edges had deterred anyone else from attempting to play or steal it. Thieves tended not to heal as quickly as she did anyway and the axe had strange powers of  
its own; it couldn't cut the flesh of anyone of Abadeer blood for a start. Keeping her axe sharp had saved her life on more occasions than she cared to remember and tonight was rapidly looking to be no exception. She growled lowly, hefting its familiar weight in grim anticipation.

"Someone's coming through, lots of them. Wake the Honour Guard." she hissed to Bonnie who nodded and slipped from the room like a wraith, bed sheets loosely draped around her shoulders to protect her modesty. She didn't stop to argue; Marceline's senses were never mistaken.

There was just enough time to raise her axe regretfully, thinking about how it would take her weeks to clean the inevitable bloodstains off the fretwork before the false wall panel was ripped back and heavily armed enemies poured through. She was already swinging her weapon through the air, hot fury pumping through her limbs replacing the languid bliss of moments before. For a brief split second she caught a glimpse of drawn swords and heavy plate armour, not regretting in the least her decision to attack first and check for friendly intentions later. Nobody tried to sneak into a palace in the dead of night with drawn swords for innocent reasons.

The first one through the tunnel took the full weight of an ancient and wicked labrys straight through his helmet and it slipped through his skull like it was warm butter, slicing cleanly through his face right down to the base of the neck. His brains fountained to the ceiling as Marceline ripped the axe back with all of her inhuman strength. She snarled viciously as the warm rain of her enemy's blood coated her and felt huge wings sprout from her back and her face transform, becoming a contorted horror mask of fury as her demon bloodlust woke.

Twisted claws sprouted from her fingers and her all her fangs lengthened to fill her mouth with needle sharp points. Someone had been in her house, they were coming to hurt her family. Rushing forward with a blood chilling scream her arms blurred with movement and the next attacker out of the tunnel slumped to the floor, head spinning free of his neck as the axe shuddered into the wood of the wall behind him.

The bass strings whined in protest and snapped as they caught on his dull iron helm. They catapulted back towards her hands and ripped long lines into the skin but she didn't even feel it, demon and vampire instincts were howling too loudly to register anything but the destruction of her enemies. She wanted to crush every last one of them with her bare hands and feast on their lifeblood as it trickled down her arms. Perhaps Olgar was right about her after all, when her bloodlust came upon her she more than lived up to the terrifying tales of vampires that children still whispered to each other on dark nights. No more sweet and playful Marcy, she was the Vampire Queen now, all horror and burning red eyes and razor-edged death. She rose into the air, a haze of fury cloaking her like an aura. Nobody threatened her family.

"Come on you bastards! Come and try me!" she screamed, rushing towards the mouth of the tunnel again and swinging her axe savagely as the door of the bedroom crashed open, the Guard members pouring through it with weapons held aloft.

The moment's distraction was all it took for her next opponent to get a shot off; she screamed in pain and fell back as a blunt wooden crossbow bolt thudded into the centre of her chest with a sickening crunch, ripping through muscle and shattering bone. It only slowed her down for a second, it had missed her heart by a hair's width and she snapped the shaft in two as she plunged a hand into the wound and tore it out. Her fingers were slick and sticky, the scent of death and her own chill blood robbed her of any remaining rational thought.

Angrier than she could ever remember being, spitting blue fire that seemed to suck all the heat from the air, she rose into a hover again as the wound began to heal itself. Bones pulled agonisingly back together and the demon fury that raged through her added an extra edge on already unnaturally fast reflexes. Her hands blurred as she snatched the next crossbow bolt from where it whistled past her in the air and shredded in to splinters, it had been aimed directly over her shoulder where she could feel rather than see Bonnie fighting hand to hand alongside the Guard. With one swift lunge she had the head of the crossbowman between her hands and shredded his skull and brains just as easily as the bolt. She didn't bother to look at him as she ripped the life from his fragile mortal body, shouting over her shoulder at the others instead.

"Get the princess out of here!" she snarled to the heroes, wiping blood splatters roughly from her face and upturning the bed for cover with an ear splitting crash. She knew Bonnie was no pushover when it came to a fight but this was more than just breaking up a bar brawl and Marceline couldn't handle the distraction of her being in danger right now. Her fist smashed straight through the solid oak frame of the bed when she contemplated Bonnibel getting hurt. No. That was not something she would let happen, not when she finally had her again, when things were finally right between them.

Olgar lunged forward to her left, skewering his broadsword clean through the chest of an approaching goblin she hadn't even noticed, nodded to her and rushed off head first into the horde pushing through the tunnel entrance. They were everywhere, many more than the ten she'd originally estimated. A sword slipped under her arm and sliced through her belly, making her scream again with shock, but the blade was barely clear of her flesh before the wound was healed, skin regrown to a shallow grey gash of fresh scar tissue from navel to hip bone in just seconds.

The last thing the terrified young soldier who'd wounded her ever saw was a hideous vision of blood and fangs rip the sword from his shaking hands, glance at the blade and snarl, "Silver kills werewolves you fucking moron. Not vampires." Then his world ended. She let the dead man drop after a second, satisfied he would not trouble her further. His skull was crushed like a melon and she had casually twisted his neck around almost into a full circle. Overkill maybe, but rookies pissed her off.

After that everything blurred together in a cloud of blood and death with only the occasional moments of clarity. Now Emerald Rainicorn was skewering a scaly demon woman through the eye with her long horn, now Eagle Mask was bringing her enormous sword crashing through the chest of a large set man with a square green head. Wound after wound shredded Marceline's skin and healed immediately, she grimaced to think of how ragged she'd look for the next few days until the scars faded. A dagger was unexpectedly pushed hard through the top of her back and a fountain of blood burst out of her mouth where it'd nicked the bottom of her oesophagus. It burned agonisingly until she wrenched it out and whirled to stick it through the throat of her attacker but the injury wasn't too severe to heal instantly and she carried on regardless.

 _Fucking amateurs, not a one of them knows enough anatomy to aim for the heart_. The thought made her laugh out loud unexpectedly at the same moment her axe slid effortlessly through the midriff of a giant woman, the warrior behind the giantess actually pissed himself before she let the momentum carry her weapon into his guts too. And mostly they were amateurs, no amount of enthusiasm or overwhelming numbers made up for that.

The attacking force could only be cheap mercenaries; they were a rough mix of experience and race all with the same ragged patchwork armour. For every merc who seemed to know the pointy end of their sword from the hilt there were ten more grass green rookies that Marceline cut down without a second though. She hovered over the corpses of demons, yetis, Vikings and goblins alike. After what could have been minutes or hours the attackers were forced back to the front of the tunnel, their numbers decimated.

A horn sounded to their rear and they turned and fled, retreating the way they'd come. Ignoring the calls of her comrades to let them go Marceline pursued them as far as she could before the aching gnaw of fresh pain in her arm forced her to stop for a moment. She'd gone right down the tunnel, racing after their retreating backs and cutting down every one she could catch. There was a trail of dead and dying mercs behind her, most with deep slashes from her axe blade in their backs but some with their skulls crushed, heads ripped off. Not even a tiny hint of regret bothered her; they were mercenaries and they'd known what they were signing up for.

The pain didn't let up, just continued to burn like her arm was one fire. She looked down in surprise at the long curve of a poisoned dagger that was stuck clean through her wrist. Most mortal poisons had no effect on demons and even if it could have hurt her she had no circulation to spread it unless she consciously ordered her heart to begin beating again. What would have been a fatal wound to anyone else was just an annoyance to her. Snarling furiously, still pumped with bloodlust and rage, she tugged it out of her arm and tucked the bone fragments that came with it back inside the rapidly healing flesh, hissing at the way her wrist rearranged itself to mend the damage. Regeneration didn't stop it from being agonising until everything was back in place. The mercs were escaping up the tunnel ahead of her but she'd catch up, just as soon as her wrist worked again.

She didn't even remember when or how she'd come to be impaled, she supposed it had happened sometime after the frenzy of rage had taken away any leftover aspect of humanity and replaced it with the demon fury she was normally so careful to suppress. But she'd probably ripped whoever had stabbed her into tiny bloody scraps, as much as Marceline was known to be a trickster she had a surprising lack of sense of humour when it came to people trying to kill her. Killing for food was nothing she needed to do any more and killing for fun had never made any sense at all to her. But killing in self-defence was something different entirely; she'd survived more assassination attempts than she'd ever bothered to keep track of. Killing to protect Bonnie and Jake and Finn was something she'd do a million times over if she had to, something she'd do without a thought or regret.

She was rushing towards the end of the tunnel, still half mad but beginning to calm back down to normal vampire anger and not horrifying demon madness, only about a hundred metres from the trapdoor and the rapidly disappearing feet of the last mercenary out of the tunnel. But before she could even touch the long ladder that lead up to her kitchen the world lit up in an almighty explosion of heat and noise, intense green light blinding her and sending her reeling. She was spinning backwards in absolute chaos, unable to figure out which way was up let alone what direction she should be moving in. Just for a fraction of a second she heard an organic crunch close to her left ear, like a watermelon hitting the ground at speed. Then everything went blissfully quiet and dark and she remembered nothing at all.


	9. Chapter 9

**I spent the day looking at wedding dresses online and I'm probably making my choice based on whether it can be adapted for cosplay at some point. My fiancée is completely ok with that, she's an even bigger nerd than I am. So this chapter is for you, Wifecake.**

 **Is there something up with my account or did entirely 0 people read the last chapter? I dunno if this website is just screwing with me or if my traffic stats are wrong, I'm usually getting like 100 hits a day when I post a new chapter. And my traffic graph hasn't moved in forever. Just asking, if you're out there PM me or leave a review please and let me know, I'm a bit confused.**

 **Content Warning: Some unpleasant descriptions of dead things, fairly graphic injuries.**

* * *

"Ja'an," he spoke her name quietly, the jagged hole of his mouth caused him to slur alarmingly. "Your reputation is inescapable and I have need of your services. Ralquinn will provide you with the details. I want the future heroes Jake the Dog and Finn the Human delivering to me alive and as unharmed as you can manage. I have plans that require them to be as whole as possible."

Ja'an knelt before the Dark Majesty's earthen throne and she bowed to her new employer, trying hard to keep the obvious dark anticipation from spreading across her face. Her pointed ears flicked forward attentively. The Dark Majesty was a worthy master even when he was only partially made flesh and their goals aligned beautifully in this matter, all but for the small aspect of leaving Lord Evil's delicious daughter alive. Sweeping her muscular body upright again, she stood to attention to receive her new orders.

"Be warned, Ja'an." he continued, empty eye holes turned to her eager face. "Failure to deliver will cost your life. I want them alive and whole. You may hurt but do not kill the vampire Abadeer. The daughter is a weak halfbreed but her father's wrath is something I wish to avoid until I am strong enough to be certain of victory. That cannot happen if you fail to deliver the children to me whole."

Ja'an stiffened and looked into the terrible face with badly concealed shock. She'd been entertaining a vivid fantasy of slowly ripping Abadeer Junior's spine out through her back like a cooked fish that was being deboned, maybe taking some of that lovely soft hair to braid as a trophy necklace once she was done, cooing to her that she was such a pretty corpse. Briefly Ja'an wondered if the Dark Majesty could read minds. Probably, she decided. Who knew what powers he still possessed in his new derelict form?

"Your own colourful history with the vampire is well known to me. Leave her be while you fulfil my wishes. Once I have the heroes whole and undamaged and am returned to my full strength you may violate her as much as your heart desires. But until I am restored to my former self you will not touch a silken hair on her head. The necessity of travelling to find the future heroes has weakened me considerably. I am no match for Lord Evil while I am in this form and you will not bring his anger upon us until we can be certain he is no longer a threat. I do not know if I possess a soul for him to harvest, I do not wish to know."

He gestured downwards with what she supposed would pass for a hand in his grotesque mimicry of a body. There were not enough slabs of flesh clinging to the shards of greying bone to even be a full corpse, where whole chunks of his body parts were missing a dark magical fog filled but did not entirely obscure the writhing mass of maggots and putrefying flesh underneath. Dark Majesty was rotting away as she watched; she'd need to work quickly before he disintegrated entirely. His remaining body was twisted beyond her recognition; his stretched skin was the colour of the underside of a day old corpse. Two dark empty holes served in place of eyes and a jagged gash where a mouth should have been opened to show blackened stumps of teeth and only half a tongue, the rest a wet writhing mass of pale worms.

Ja'an had seen worse, but not recently. It made her glow warm and bubbly inside; her kind had always had a deep appreciation of the macabre. Dark Majesty was more grotesquely beautiful to her now than he had ever been in his previous form. It would be almost a shame to present the children to him and allow him to ascend back to his former glory but what he would lack in aesthetics he would make up for in ruthless evil. She knew her master was not firing on full cylinders right now and that disturbed her, it was something that she needed to fix as quickly as possible. The very fact that he had contacted her instead of simply dealing with the future heroes himself bothered her. He looked different too, somehow flabbier and younger where he still had flesh, like he'd been rolled from uncooked pastry before the ravages of travelling back through time had pulled away great chunks of his body. She could only imagine what horrors had been visited upon his future self to change him so profoundly.

"My other operatives have already failed me in this, Ja'an. You will not fail. Ask Ralquinn how his dear friend The General is feeling now that he has been unburdened of some of his more troublesome organs, I'm sure you'll agree that you'd rather keep your most useful body as intact as possible. I will not tolerate failure. If you do disappoint me I am sure Ralquinn will be only too happy to sample the various delights your torture and eventual death can offer him."

Ja'an shivered at the thought of it, not entirely in horror. She's been a plaything of Ralquinn in the past; his sadistic tendencies and fascinating genetics more than enough to get her off.

She nodded sharply to show she understood her master's directions and he returned the nod then dismissed her with a wave. Ja'an was the very best assassin money could buy, she was no two-penny mercenary borrowing her father's sword and going off starry eyed to find adventure and fortune. She had killed so many people in so many ways that their faces blurred together in her memory and she could no longer remember a time before she'd known the thrill of snuffing out a life in various depraved and corrupt ways.

But she would not cross his Dark Majesty; even in his current weakened state he was a dire prospect to battle and she was not sure he could even be killed in any conventional way. His body could be further degraded but he would always remain in some form, a spirit or wraith. She hurried from his cavern towards the room where Ralquinn would meet her to fill her in on the fine details of her mission.

Ja'an was paid to kill, not kidnap children, and she briefly wondered at his Majesty's use of the term 'future heroes'. She didn't know all the details and it distantly worried her, details were the only safety blanket she had between living through another mission and ending in a bloody gurgle on the end of her target's edged weapon of choice. Shaking herself to rid her brain of such foolish musings she snorted in derision at her own eagerness to know all of her master's secrets. This was no ordinary hit and Dark Majesty was no ordinary employer. She had always said curiosity would be the death of her if she let it. She had a job to do and would be well paid for it. So far as she was concerned that was the beginning and end of the story; if Dark Majesty chose to employ a master assassin to kidnap two common children then it was his gold to waste.

She crept warily down the long damp corridor until she came out into a smaller cavern. When she entered the room was empty except for a table, a set of chairs and a huge iron ring driven deep into a peg in the wall. That gave her a moment to consider all the wonderful things such a sturdy restraint could be used for, especially with Ralquinn in the mix. He did so love tying his victims up. A quick sniff confirmed that the ring smelled of blood and magic; he must have tortured The General here. She flicked a glance over the rough furniture and decided she wouldn't give him the benefit of choosing whether to stand over her or not. Instead she leaned against a wide flat root protruding from the bare earthen wall to wait for her favourite competitor to grace her with his presence.

Ja'an did not enjoy being underground, this far into the earth it was uncomfortably warm and she felt claustrophobic. Her tail twitched in annoyance. She flicked one elongated paw across an ear, removing a clod of dirt that had fallen from the ceiling of the cavern. Ja'an wasn't particular about her looks but it absolutely wouldn't do to be too unkempt in front of the fabulously immaculate Ralquinn. And she _hated_ having dirty fur. No matter how ragged her armour looked and how many battle scars criss-crossed her snout she refused point blank to tolerate a speck of dirt on her thick red pelt.

As though he'd heard her think his name Ralquinn materialized silently in front of her, reclining casually on his bare wooden chair and flicking indolent eyes over her. He sighed as he took in her battered armour and unusually grubby paws. She bared her teeth in reply and hunched her shoulders, ready to pounce if he chose to take it further. Ja'an would kill him in a heartbeat if he mentioned her paws. It was just so damn hard to stay clean when she was literally surrounded by damp earth. Opalescent green eyes locked onto weirdly slatted golden ones challengingly and Ja'an's hair began to stand on end. Eventually Ralquinn broke eye contact and kicked out the chair opposite with a snort, relaxing back into his casual pose and snapping his long fingers to cause a decanter of dark liquor and two glasses to appear between them on the table.

"That's an invitation to sit, Ja'an." he drawled in a carefully practised bored tone. "I'd have said it in my prettiest mouth words just for you but the pit you were raised in didn't have those kind of fancy manners and I'm afraid it would only confused and terrify you."

Ja'an reached into the pouch hanging from her belt and with a blur of speed flicked a morning star directly into his face. No matter who he may resemble she refused to take that kind of cheek; Ralquinn was good but he was not worth a ritual offering. The tall grey demon let the morning star get within an inch of his shimmering eye before it disappeared with a tiny pop.

"I see you've never gotten tired of that particular parlour trick. It gets old, the rest of us have to depend on actual skills to get by. How have you been, Ral?" she asked, conceding silently that he had won this round. She sat carefully and picked up the decanter, eyeing the liquid inside. It was the colour of old bloody pus and smelled like a festering wound, she inhaled deeply and relished every pestilent note. Oh he knew how to woo a demon, did Ralquinn.

"Oh, you know. A little of this and then sometimes a little of that. Working for Dark Majesty isn't everything I'd hoped, but it has some fascinating opportunities for torture. Just before I came to find you I got to eat the liver out of the chest of a general who had displeased my Lord. He's still alive and his body is slowly poisoning him now that his liver is gone, I left him to stumble around the grassland and amuse himself while he slowly died. Just fascinating. Urgh, Ja'an that's barbaric!" he added as Ja'an picked up the decanter and swigged straight from the top of it, ignoring the fine crystal glass he'd materialized for her. It seemed an overdeveloped sense of manners ran in the family, too.

The liquor burned as she swallowed, bitter and somehow a salty metallic. Ja'an was certain it had at least some dead flesh in it, she swabbed her rough tongue across her split lips appreciatively and smiled at the feel of it aching in the small open cuts in her mouth. It was wicked strong; too much of this and she'd be staggering around unable to see straight. Best to pace herself, then.

"Anyway," Ralquinn added, taking the decanter and wiping the top with the delicate silken handkerchief he usually stowed in his top pocket then pouring a glass for himself, "I'm sure you're just dying to hear all the gossip from the Nightosphere, hm?"

"Not particularly, no."

She frowned, he knew she never wanted to hear of that place again. Ralquinn may enjoy riling her but he knew better than to prod at that particular wound. He'd never asked what she'd been exiled for and other than knowing it somehow involved her fascination and rivalry with Lady Abadeer and that Lord Evil had intervened he'd never asked. He sipped his drink and raked his eyes over the other demon, taking in more than just her clothing this time.

"So." he murmured after a few minutes. "You're looking just as toned as ever. Would you like to see what new tricks I've picked up recently?"

He popped open the top three buttons of his impeccable white shirt and winked at her, showing off the ragged scars running down his thin grey chest. "Exquisite, aren't they? I'd very much like to give you some to match. Beautiful Ja'an, your eyes are like glowing coals. I want to rip the skin from your back while yellow butterflies flutter all around us."

"You're such a charmer." Ja'an replied with a crooked smile. And he was; in demon circles Ral had a reputation as a sadistic Casanova. She considered for a moment, she had no pressing business just yet and Ralquinn was legendarily talented. She still had scars from when they'd tangled together in the past. Besides, she liked the way he smelled, liked the way the light threw shadows of muted colour through his sable hair. She shrugged out of her armour to reveal the oxblood coloured fur underneath and he leaned across the table to dig his nails into the loose flesh of her back, pushing harder and breaking through the skin when she purred with pain.

"Exquisite." he breathed as his long teeth scraped across the bone of her shoulder.

* * *

In his many years of adventuring Olgar Snow Blood had had many opportunities to bear the blood-stained body of a beautiful naked woman in his arms. Never had he thought in his wildest dreams that he would one day be tearfully bringing the Queen of Vampires back from battle to give her a true hero's burial and comfort her grieving widow.

He couldn't look at her still pale face as he wrapped his cloak across her exposed flesh to preserve her dignity. His tears flowed freely down his cheeks and through his thick beard. Olgar was consumed by guilt; he'd thought so badly of her, harboured outright hostility to her simply because she was a vampire. But then when the test had come she'd stood up and fought for the people she loved more bravely than he could have ever imagined. He'd been so very wrong about her and now he'd never have the chance to apologise.

She'd fought like nothing Olgar had ever seen, the furious demonic and vampiric energy had actually been used for good, slaying enemies with barely more than a thought. What a hero she could have been! And little Finn, to lose his parents and then his adoptive mother so close together, his heart broke for that angelic little boy who was more wise and accepting than a century old hero. Finn had known that Marceline was good, Olgar should have trusted him. Everyone knew that innocent babes could feel evil intent; if Finn had loved Marceline then Olgar should have accepted her too. Perhaps if she'd felt more trust him him she would still be alive.

And oh, the princess! He was certain she'd never recover from this blow. When she had come running into their room in the night calling for aid in her chambers and wearing nothing but a sheet and some strange small wounds on her shoulder Eagle hadn't seemed the least surprised, just unslung her longsword and followed. But Olgar had been perplexed; had she been attacked whilst getting undressed? Or somehow lost her clothes when the invaders had broken through? When he'd rushed into the royal bedroom to find swarms of mercenaries being ripped apart by a dark and equally naked winged fury he was beyond confused, until the creature had turned and he'd squinted at her face. It took him a moment to recognise her but all at once he remembered she could change her form when angered.

He'd almost fallen over with shock. What could the vampire woman being doing naked in the princess's bed chamber and angry enough to transform like that? And the princess herself was equally naked but for a sheet... Then the vampire took a crossbow bolt to the chest and for a second he'd thought she was done, shot through her heart. The princess had screamed in rage and fear, the kind of scream borne from a deep emotional connection. Olgar had screamed that exact same way years ago when a pike had gone through Eagle's stomach, he still saw the fountain of blood burst through the coppery flesh in his nightmares sometimes and cried out for her in his sleep.

The truth hit him like an anvil, why two women of similar circumstances would be naked together in a private chamber with the bed sheets and their hair in disarray and suddenly he couldn't look at either of them, instead just focussing on unsheathing his sword and hacking away at the mercenaries in embarrassed confusion. Before the attack they must have been– or at the very least he wondered if it was the first time they'd– it had brought a deep blush to his cheeks to even think those thoughts. Princess Bubblegum was so sweet! And with that awful vampire! Olgar was shocked to his soul that she would ever consent to bed someone of such a questionable alignment. Then the enemies pushed forward and he was lost to the battle, no time to think about who the princess was or was not sleeping with.

Emerald was down with a hand axe that she hadn't seen in time buried deep in her side. With a single thrust he'd pushed his broadsword through her attacker's neck right up to the hilt, that's when he heard the signal for them to retreat. But the vampire was crazy, too far gone in righteous anger for her son and lover, she'd followed them despite his cries for her to stay and check the princess was safe. He couldn't leave Emerald, she'd saved all of their lives more than once and her breathing was coming in bubbling gasps, specks of shining green blood flecking her lips.

As they rushed her to the palace doctor he'd thought no more of the vampire, only of his dying friend and injured wife. Eagle had taken an arrow through the calf. It wasn't life threatening but he worried over her like always because that was just what a husband did. Her enchanted mask could keep her body free of poison but infection could set in just the same, he'd lost a younger brother that way long before they'd met and deep wounds still made him skittish. He'd noticed a jagged gash on his forearm but disregarded it, it would soon be just another scar to add to his collection. Olgar was rather proud of his scar tissue, gathered over a century of adventuring.

Time had blurred as the royal doctor rushed to save Emerald. She was stable but unconscious; a machine half mechanical and half magical of the princess's own design was helping her breathe until the hole in her lung could heal. The princess herself had come in after some time cradling Finn and Jake, she'd found a more suitable robe from somewhere and was attempting to soothe the babes as they howled in terror and shock.

"Peppermint, have you seen Marceline? She's somehow the only one who can get these guys to quiet and go to sleep, even if she's not in the mood to sing to them I think it would good for her to just be close by them."

Her strange little butler had scurried off and Olgar suddenly remembered that the vampire had chased their remaining enemies down the passageway. She'd be back by now, no doubt. But the butler returned after some minutes with the terrible news that the vampire couldn't be found within the palace and the horror on the princess's face had made Olgar re-evaluate the relationship between them. He'd thought perhaps it was something casual, a way to relieve tension when they were besieged in the palace with an unknown enemy somewhere in the kingdom stalking innocent children. But nobody looked that distraught over a fling and the princess was not the sort of woman to choose her bedroom partners without thought. It had been no passing flare of passions or midnight madness that had led to them coupling together, they were quite seriously involved.

And what he'd taken for jealous rivalry between them when he had arrived had been unresolved romantic tension. Olgar felt so blind he could have smacked himself in the face; and of course Eagle had known the minute she laid eyes on them! Women had mysterious senses regarding romantic connections, it explained why she'd not been even a little shocked to find the vampire completely naked and angrily defending the princess in her bedroom. In _their_ bedroom, Olgar corrected himself. Surely they had a domestic arrangement; suddenly small things that didn't quite seem right about the royal bedchambers made more sense. Where had Marceline's axe come from? It must have already been there. And all her clothes? He'd never seen her use a guest suite yet she changed her outfit at least once a day, logically she must be changing in the room she thought of as her own and the only bedroom he'd seen her enter or exit was the princess's.

For everyone's sakes he was glad they'd resolved whatever problem they'd been having when he arrived, now satisfied the vampire was no threat he could be glad that two such strong and gallant women had found each other and come together into a staggeringly powerful pairing. But now the princess was clinging the babes to her chest and shaking with fear, she would not be calmed or persuaded to sit while her lover was still missing. With a nod from Eagle, Olgar had left her to the care of his wife and Joshua and slipped away to see what had stopped Marceline from coming back. No doubt she was wearing the hearts of her enemies as a necklace but they would need her to return from her bloodlust madness soon.

While others searched the roofs and gardens he'd climbed into the hole and followed the tunnel down through a hollow wall of the palace and into the ground. He'd jogged a while but been forced to slow when the light grew so faint that only the nocturnal could be expected to find their way and he began tripping over the bodies of the dead mercenaries that bore the wounds of the vampire's terrible axe.

The same acrid scent of magical fire that had hung around Joshua's wrecked home hit his nose and after some minutes of careful walking he found the light growing again, a sickly green of monstrous demon flame. The same fire had flayed the flesh from Goltan Tarrick's bones years before, consuming him when Billy had failed his duty as lookout.

Olgar ground his teeth together in anger. The General had been there. The Guard had stood magically rooted to the spot and had been forced to watch helplessly as The General used his magical fire to slowly torture Goltan to death; only Emerald's colour change abilities had managed to distract The General long enough for the rest of them to escape. Olgar shivered as he remembered the agonised screams of his dying captain; The General had so much to answer for. He had invented monstrous demon flame and he used it to send a message to the enemies of his employers. So far the message had always been the same: you are all going to die. Nobody knew who The General really was but Olgar had sworn vengeance on him three times over all the same, he'd not been heard from in years and now he was back. Finally though, a chance to avenge his dead captain.

And then he'd found her, almost tripped over her limp body where it lay crumpled against the rough wall of the tunnel. It never stopped hurting to see the corpse of a young woman, even after almost a hundred years.

She must have died in the explosion of fire, there were savage looking burns peppering her face and shoulders. The ragged fist sized dent in her skull above her left ear where she'd collided with the wall reminded him too much of the first body he'd ever seen. For a moment he wasn't an old hero crouching low over the body of the Vampire Queen, he was a lad just barely into his teens, discovering the broken and violated body of Piglet Princess at the bottom of a ditch by his village. Goltan had found him weeping over her and asked him quietly if he wanted to join the Guard and help find the ones who'd killed her. He'd never looked back.

Despite their best efforts the General was already long gone; while they were trying to track him he was flaying the skin from every living member of the Piglet tribe that he could find. The few who survived had scattered across Ooo, living in disguise, still in fear for their lives.

Olgar Snow Blood had earned his name when he'd landed a deep blow on The General in the Ice Kingdom four years later, but he'd escaped with his life and Olgar had never managed to avenge the Piglets. Just thinking of it brought bile to the back of his throat and he swallowed down vomit. He would not disrespect them by losing his dinner over their memories. They'd never discovered who had employed The General to destroy the Piglets, that had been over ninety years ago. Whoever it was could be long gone already.

But now Marceline the Vampire Queen was dead. He knew Princess Bubblegum would never forgive him if he left the body of her lover to rot in a burnt out cave so he unpinned his cloak and wrapped her tenderly in it, wiping the rapidly drying blood gently from her face with his sleeve and whispering the Viking prayer for the dead, head bowed and tears running unchecked down his broad face. It was the highest honour he could give her, after seeing how bravely she had defend her family he almost felt it wasn't enough.

His voice cracked over the old words and his tears splashed against her cold cheek as he crouched with her lifeless corpse gathered in his arms. The Allfather could hear him even in the depth of the earth but to be extra sure he grasped the silver raven pendant he wore on a cord around his neck and spoke directly to it.

"Odin Allfather, hear my prayer. At this time a great warrior lies slain in righteous battle. I have shed the blood of foes with this woman and felt the strength of her arm and axe. She has given her life to protect her woman and son. Odin, take this daughter of blood into the sacred halls of Valhalla that she may feast for time eternal with the heroes of old. Odin, let your Valkyries descend and claim her undying soul, let her rest in the halls of my fathers. I shed my blood to you in sacrifice, Odin Allfather. I am Olgar Snow Blood, son of Harald the Hero. Accept my blood and take this soul. In life her name was Marceline Abadeer, Queen of Vampires, but great Odin take her into death as a true Viking, worthy of the title Marceline Axe Fury, worthy of a seat in your eternal hall. So I pray, Allfather."

He pulled a small carved hunting knife from where it was strapped to the side of his boot and ran the blade across his palm, squeezing a few drop of his own blood onto the dead woman's face and using his fingertip to carefully draw the three interlocking triangles of the valknut onto her cold cheek. The valknut was an ancient and sacred symbol, the mark of a slain warrior, the gateway to Valhalla, the symbol of an offering to the Allfather. With a sob he slung her great axe across his back and gently shifted her limp body in his arms to begin the long journey back to the palace. The only thing he could do for her now was to bring her home and prepare her funeral pyre.


	10. Chapter 10

**Huge apologies for the lack of updates, I've had All The Stress going on just lately. I'd tell you all about it but I fear it's rather dull and not really why you're here, right? But! I am here and still alive and still posting! And also going to post a new one shot soon, so watch this space if you like one shots. Turns out I do have readers after all, my stats graph just decided it didn't want to be a stats graph for most of last month.**

 **A brief shout out to everyone who left a review so far: you guys are especially loved and wonderful and you make me sqee like a... loud squeeing thing. Also I'm still open to any challenges/suggestions/etc for one shots or longer stories, if you have an idea and want me to write it then send it over.**

 **Content Warning: Descriptions of very nasty injuries, flashbacks, unapologetic queerness.**

* * *

"She's not dead, Olgar."

They were all gathered in the throne room when Olgar bursting through the doors with a howl of grief carrying what appeared to be a battered and unconscious Marceline wrapped in his cloak. Dark spots of her cold blood were slowly seeping through the deep purple cloth around her head and chest; her hair where it poked out from the bundle was a matted mess of half dried blood and scraps of what Bonnie desperately hoped wasn't torn flesh.

The Guard had been huddled together in a knot around Emerald who was still unconscious but almost ready to breathe on her own; they drifted closer as Bonnie gently persuaded Olgar to at least let her see her lover's face. The big Viking clung to her body like a child with a rag doll and he wasn't even trying to hide his tears. It was a startling change of heart when he'd been muttering darkly about beheading her only that morning.

Bonnie was peering worriedly at Marceline's battered face, feeling panic recede a little as logic and science whispered reassuringly to her. The pale vampire was still unconscious, bruises and open cuts all over her body, but she was most definitely still as much alive as a vampire ever was. Bonnie let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding. Still alive, just unconscious. She'd seen this before, right? If she'd died...

"But princess, she has no heartbeat, she's stone cold. And she hasn't taken a breath in all this time. I know it's hard to face, but your Majesty, she's gone..." Olgar trailed off, his eyes rimmed red and tears still clinging to his pale lilac eyelashes. He gently laid the body on a raised bench, arranging her deathly pale hands into a funereal position on her chest and shifting the cloak to better protect her dignity. Bonnie's heart went out for the big man, he was a lot more sensitive underneath all his macho rough housing than he let on. Apparently thinking that Marceline might be dead when he himself had been thinking uncharitable thoughts about her was enough to break through his bluster and trigger his well developed guilt instinct.

She noticed with wry amusement that he had painted the valknut onto Marcy's cheek to mark her as a true warrior of Odin and therefore worthy of ascending to Valhalla. Loyal to a fault, the old Viking hero had decided Marceline was a worthy comrade in arms and now he would move heaven and earth to ensure she got the afterlife he thought she deserved. No doubt Marceline would find that equal measures weird and funny but it was the thought that counted and Olgar had obviously done a lot of thinking. The valknut was the greatest honour a Viking warrior could bestow upon a dead comrade. Except she wasn't any more dead than she'd been before the fight begun. Bonnie quietly took the big man's arm and guided him to a seat like a sleepy child being led back to bed.

"Did you forget that Marceline is a vampire, Olgar? If she was dead she'd have turned to dust."

Bonnie tried to keep her tone as gentle as possible, resting her hand on his still bleeding shoulder to calm him. "She's always cold, she has been as long as I've known her. Her heart doesn't beat unless she concentrates and wills it to which she generally doesn't because she has no need of it, and she only breathes out of habit. It's useful for talking and singing but it's certainly not something she needs to do. If she's concentrating very hard sometimes she forgets to take a breath for hours. You could lock her in a steel box and drop it in the ocean and a hundred years later she'd just be hungry and very pissed off."

Olgar was staring around in confusion. Bonnie understood that he needed the reassurance of a watertight explanation. She sympathised, it was almost harder to understand that he _hadn't_ lost a comrade than to accept that he'd been wrong about her and would never have the chance to apologise. But he should have known, she didn't understand why he was confused by Marcy's cold skin and lack of heartbeat. Olgar used to hunt vampires, surely he'd studied them?

"Vampires... don't breathe? Then, but, how do they die?" he asked in a small voice, like he was learning something earth shattering.

"Beheading, usually. It's easier to kill a vampire by cutting their head off than by a stake through the heart because it's an easier target, but that would do it too. Sunlight if they're exposed for long enough or fire that burns intensely. But you can't explode a vampire to death unless their head is removed by the force of the explosion. She's badly beaten up but she'll recover, or else she'd already be an ash pile." Bonnie replied carefully, trying to stem the flow of awful mental images that flooded her when she shared that particular information. Because that was the way Marcy had explained it to her, centuries before, in a flat and entirely emotionless voice. It didn't take a genius to work out that she'd witnessed vampires she knew die in every single one of those ways. And Bonnie's over active brain was trying to work out exactly what that would look like, how intensely the fire would have to burn to overcome a vampire's natural regenerative abilities, how long they'd have to be exposed to sunlight. She shivered and pushed the thoughts away; she wasn't interested in how to kill a vampire, just how to keep one safe.

"But her wounds! Look at her head and chest! She healed during the battle but now she's covered in open wounds, her ribs are almost completely caved in, there's no way she could recover from that."

"It's because she's unconscious, Olgar. Healing herself is something Marceline does as a reflex, the same way that you draw your sword when you see trouble. You do it without thinking but somewhere in your subconscious you still have to make the decision to do it. She can't decide to heal herself when she's unconscious. It's the same reason she's not transformed any more; to shift her shape Marceline has to at least subconsciously choose another form. When she's fully unconscious she just reverts back to her standard vampire appearance. We'll know when she starts to wake up because her injuries will heal as she realises that they're causing her pain."

Bonnie gave him her most reassuring smile, and Olgar hung his head and let tears of relief fall. He had surprised her with how in touch with his feeling he was, for a Viking. Crying unashamedly in front of his comrades was a sign of his new found deep respect for Marceline. After a few quiet minutes when he held onto her hands almost painfully tightly and muttered to Odin under his breath Olgar bowed to Bonnie and made his way across the room to check on the rest of the Guard, still wiping tears from his face and now smiling wetly as Eagle limped over to wrap her arms around him.

Bonnie was tired; aching despite having only engaged in a small amount hand-to-hand combat before Billy hustled her back to the nursery. She'd been so worried that something awful had happened to Marceline, having her entire upper body crushed was still a big deal even for a vampire. And what she hadn't told Olgar, the awful truth that she couldn't bring herself to share with him, was that there wasn't really any guarantee that Marceline would ever wake up. If the damage to her brain was too severe she would stay forever unconscious, unable to wake and heal herself but unable to fully die. It was the worst possible thing Bonnie could think of, she pushed it from her mind with all her remaining strength. No, Marceline would wake up and heal and she'd be fine. She couldn't just stay in a coma forever, not now when they'd finally started to fix everything. Finn needed her and Bonnibel wasn't too proud to admit that she needed Marcy, too. She wanted to hold on to her and never let her go, shake her and scream at her for being so _stupid_ to go down that hole on her own, curl up by her side and rest her head on her shoulder. Bonnie didn't know which urge was stronger, but she settled for perching awkwardly on the edge of the bench Olgar had laid Marceline on and holding her limp hand tightly.

Bonnie was shaking as though she was freezing despite the fire Peppermint had hurriedly laid in the hearth. Deep in her brain the part of her mind reserved for logically assessing her own feelings whispered, _you're in shock, and you used up your reserves of calm to soothe Olgar. Take a deep breath, Bonnibel. Now you'll pay for those few minutes of forced tranquillity._

Something warm and wet hit her hand, she looked down and realised she'd been crying without even noticing it. She had been hearing someone sobbing for a few minutes but had assumed it was someone else. Now she realised it had been her, almost howling in delayed distress, and with absolutely no strength left to stop herself.

"I-I'm gonna kill y-you for this." she sobbed to Marceline's perfectly still profile in between gasping breaths. She was crying hard enough now that surely everyone in the hall must have noticed but they wisely kept their distance, attending to Joshua and the still whimpering babies or talking in low voices over Emerald. It was just shock, her scientific brain knew that. Because too much had happened and she'd been functioning on pure adrenaline and it was wearing off now, leaving her in debt to her coping mechanisms. That was a perfectly sound scientific explanation. Because her lover was going to wake up, any minute now, because she wasn't going to just lie there broken and silent forever.

Bonnie looked up as a big hand tucked a blanket around her shaking shoulders and swivelled to see who was there. Billy's wide set yellow eyes looked back at her, she tried to smile her thanks to him but it felt more like a twisted grimace.

"Princess," he said after a moment, "I hope you're not angry that I kept you out of the battle. I know you can handle yourself but we can't afford to lose you. Your lady was right to keep you safe."

Bonnie just nodded; she knew why Marcy had done it. She'd have done the same if their situations were reversed.

"You make a sweet couple and I wish you all the best together." Billy added, a small sad smile tugging his lips. "Although I get the feeling my congratulations are a little overdue." Bonnie did manage a weak laugh at that, forced and without any genuine humour but still a laugh for appearance's sake.

"Only by about a century, Billy." she replied, letting her eyes slide from Marceline's too still face. Billy stood quietly at her shoulder for a moment, weighing his thoughts. The old hero had a reputation for being reserved; he'd far sooner face a hundred monsters bare handed than give a heartfelt speech. But that usually meant that anything he voluntarily chose to say was worth listening to, Billy didn't give his opinions lightly.

The shivering was beginning to subside a little when Billy chose to speak again.

"Princess, why did you hide it? You love her, it's written all over your face. This isn't pre-Mushroom War society and nobody here cares if you share your bed with another woman. They care that you're a good ruler."

Bonnie bit her lip lightly, wondering how to answer. She supposed she should just be honest, there was nothing to gain from deception any more. And she was thankful for the distraction because Marceline still hadn't shown any signs of moving or waking up and she was desperate to ignore the growing panic that was rising through her chest, choking her breath.

"Princess?" He inquired gently.

"It's not that she's a woman, Billy. I was always well aware that I had no romantic interest in men and I never hid that from anyone. Nobody cares about that and I'm glad of it. It's because of who she is and who I am." Bonnie eventually replied. Billy made a small noise of understanding.

"You worry that your subjects will react like Olgar did?"

"And worse. She's a half demon and a vampire too, I'm supposed to be a shining beacon of goodness. It doesn't matter that I love and trust her. It matters that they never will because they assume they know her alignment before they've even met her."

The same old bitter resentment that she'd tried to repress for countless years bubbled back to the surface of her thoughts again. Everyone else in the entire world could be with whoever they wanted, as free as they wanted. But never Bonnibel. She had always been too much Princess and not enough person to throw caution to the wind and have her relationship with a vampire become public, too concerned with what people would say and how it might affect her political machinations. But Billy was smiling, clapping his scarred hand onto her shoulder again.

"Let them mistrust. Let them talk. Princess, you're both hundreds of years old, far too old to care about their opinions. Let them say what they want, what does it matter? They would never accept another ruler anyway so they can just learn to put up with it. It's not like you have to share your bed with the entire kingdom, she's the one you should worry about keeping happy. Happy wife, happy life. That's what Olgar always says and I supposed he would know."

Billy was grinning openly now, proud he'd fixed everything like a hero always should. He saw no problem with doing as he pleased and damning the consequences, a sentiment she'd shared earlier in the evening before things had turned deadly. But it was comforting to think like that for a while and Bonnie could close her eyes for a moment to picture a happier future where the strain of hiding such a big part of her life was gone, where they could be together openly, where the kingdom didn't collapse because she'd done something for herself without asking their opinions first. It was nice to imagine. Billy made it sound almost like it could be easy, like she was over thinking things. Was that possible? She'd over thought things in the past plenty of times. And seeing Marceline lying there so still and broken, hovering between life and death- perhaps, just... perhaps, if she came around. There were just too many possible outcomes, too many things she couldn't control. But Bonnie was thinking it over again, thinking about it harder than she had in years. If Marceline woke up, maybe...

Bonnie had been meaning to explain to Billy that it wasn't so simple but just then Marceline made a small groaning sound and shifted a little, clearly beginning to regain consciousness. It was the most beautiful noise Bonnibel had ever heard in her life. Billy bowed, still smiling, before withdrawing back across the room and leaning next to the hearth, staring into the flames by Emerald's makeshift bed with a thoughtful look on his aged features.

...

Being awake was incredible pain. Moving was even more pain. Staying perfectly still was a whole galaxy of pain. But she couldn't quite remember how to make the pain go away, how to open her eyes or make a noise. Next to her she could hear Bonnie talking to someone in a low voice. She sounded so sad. Marceline tried to frown and _ow,_ yeah she was unsurprised when that was a fresh explosion of agony too. She tried to focus on their words but it was too difficult to make out what they were saying, her head was too jumbled and she felt every single one of her thousand years. Her brain felt shaken up, pressurized and too tight, like a super porp someone had dropped and maybe kicked down a hill too.

She searched her memory for recent events. For a few moments she came up blank, then she felt her teeth lengthen in anger and shock as the attack came back to her. She still lay perfectly still but played what she could of the memories back in her mind, watching it like a flickering black and white movie. The events leading up to the attack left a deep blush on her cheeks but nobody seemed to notice, Bonnie was still talking in her softly shaking voice to someone who after a moment's careful concentration Marceline placed as Billy. She still sounded so hurt by something and Marcy wondered what she'd fucked up this time and how she was going to make up for it. She'd had her new emotional maturity for less than a week and had already fucked something up with Bonnie, she wanted to punch herself. But of course, that would be pain too and would involve remembering how to move her arms so she settled for just feeling like crap for hurting her lover.

Marcy tried to move her legs and discovered with a thrill of fear that she couldn't; nothing from the middle of her chest downwards had any feeling at all. For a moment she wondered if she had been cut in half and where her legs were before she remembered that it was more likely that the explosion had partially severed her spine someplace. She spent a moment fervently thankful that she could heal almost any injury except for decapitation or a stake through her heart; even amputated legs could be reattached if she knew where they were. With intense concentration she commanded her chest and spine to heal and the regions below her sternum gradually blossomed with agony as her spinal cord reconnected itself. She groaned partly in pain and partly in relief, shifting her aching hips a little to confirm that she still could. She'd not had to heal such a massive trauma in years and she'd been almost afraid that she wouldn't remember how.

Next she focussed on her head, the skull fragments pulling themselves out of where they'd been driven into her brain by the impact with the wall and knitting themselves back into a solid cranium before she allowed the skin and hair that had been ripped away to snake back together. There was a bizarre popping sensation as the bits of the brain tissue she'd lost or damaged regrew and slunk back into position, memories that had been temporarily lost were flooding her as they reasserted their clarity. One of her earliest memories hovered before her eyes, almost more real for a moment than anything else.

 _She was five years old and trying to make friends in the park while her mother watched anxiously from nearby. She had carefully schooled little Marcy in what to say to avoid harassment. "Hi I'm Marceline and my skin is funny because I have a medical problem." But none of the other little girls wanted to play with her, they called her a freak and told her to go away. So she sat alone in one corner glaring jealously at the shrieking children on the swings. One day she'd show them, then they'd shriek for other reasons._

 _A bigger boy plopped down next to her and offered her a piece of his candy bar. His name was Brian and the very first thing he'd ever told her was that he had a medical condition too._

 _"Mom says I have to be nice to you because we're going to go to special school together." he announced, holding out the chocolate bar in his sticky hand. That had been her Mom's idea too, that she'd fit in better in a special ed class because people wouldn't laugh at her pointy ears and grey skin. Marceline never got chance to test the theory but she suspected that wouldn't have worked out the way her mother wanted it to._

 _Brian wasn't exactly her friend but he didn't mind sitting with her. She accepted the chocolate carefully, trying hard not to let it slip from her little fingers and get onto her pretty new dress. Brian's Mom was a large lady with frizzy brown hair, she was standing and talking to Marceline's mother and waving her arms around excitedly. They all looked up as a squadron of bombers flew very low overhead with engines blaring like thunder, breaking the close summer air with the smell of burning fuel. Marcy didn't really know what a war was but her mother had told her they were at one and the planes were their friends, keeping them safe from the people who might hurt them. She said that's where her Daddy was, he was off on business trips to help win the war. Daddy was mysterious, she had a vague idea that he had special skin too, but she wasn't sure if that was the memory of him or just what she'd seen in his photograph._

 _"My Dad flied planes before he was dead." Brian announced in his abrupt way. Brian's Mom said he had a poorly brain and that special children needed to stick together, that's why he had to come and play with her once a week. But Brian was just the worst to play with, he didn't even know how to hold a toy teacup properly and he only ever wanted to be a fighter plane. Marcy had lost count of the number of times she'd patiently explained to him that fighter_ _planes didn't get invited to tea parties._

 _Marcy couldn't wait to start school and not have to stick to Brian any more; he wasn't special in the same way like her. She wanted to meet other little girls with grey skin and pointy teeth and mysterious daddies who were never there. When she found the other little girls like her they would all climb the big tree at the bottom of the park together and their moms could scream at them to come down but it wouldn't matter because they'd all_ _be best friends._

 _Little Marcy sucked on her melting chocolate and hummed happily to herself, ignoring Brian's weird attempts at conversation until he got bored and started fiddling with the dried grass and growling like a plane engine._

 _When she met the other girls like her they would rule the whole park and she would be their queen. She grinned in the way her mother hated, showing all her pointed teeth. It would happen any day now, she could feel it._

That had been the day before the bomb dropped. She never made it to her first day of class and she never saw Brian or his Mom ever again. She'd tried to find their house one time but she didn't remember which was their street any more, it was all just rubble and broken glass.

Marceline shuddered as the memory ended and her brain fell mercifully quiet. She didn't like to relive her childhood, it had never stopped being traumatic. A warm hand press against her face, drawing her attention back. She finally remembered how to open her eyes and for a moment she was squinting through a blinding whirl of pink which eventually resolved itself to be a very close view of Bonnibel's distressed face.

She tried to open her mouth to talk but the pain in her jaw was unbearable. With a careful thought the broken bones clicked back into position, dragging her misaligned teeth back to their proper places too. Sitting up was a struggle made worse by her still swimming head and the hands suddenly pushing her back down by the shoulders. Marcy didn't have the strength to fight back, she let herself be pushed back down.

"You took at least five fatal wounds, you moron. Lie still or you're going to vomit up your liver."

Bonibel's tone was sharp but her face was shining with relief. Marcy lay back down and smiled nervously. So maybe she hadn't fucked up too badly after all if Bonnie was sitting by her sickbed and calling her a moron, that was practically a term of endearment when Bonnie said it.

"Sorry Bon." Marcy replied thickly. Her throat was bone dry and her tongue felt too big. "Get water?" she tried to look hopeful but mostly just managed pathetic. As if he'd been waiting for a cue Peppermint Butler honed into view by her elbow, holding out a decent sized glass of something a million times better than water.

"Red wine? Seriously? Peppermint, I genuinely love you."

"My queen, you are most welcome! You saved the little boys and the princess, you saved the whole palace! You can have all the wine you want." the little candy man beamed at her pompously. He bowed low and caught Bonnie's disapproving gaze, hurriedly adding, "Of course, as much wine as the princess says is an adequate amount for you, given your current health."

Bonnie helped her into a slightly more upright position and held the glass to her lips. She even managed to keep the frown of disapproval off her face for a whole five seconds.

The whole situation was suddenly kinda hilarious, a choked laugh of surprise bubbled up from her throat. She'd never thought she'd live to see the day Peppermint Butler would bow and speak politely to her, even thank her for something. But it seemed she was lucky to have lived at all, an explosion that massive could easily have taken her head straight off and left her a smoking pile of ash. That might explain why Bonnie was acting like she'd just pulled her back from the Dead World, actually.

Her girlfriend's hands were shaking as she lowered the now empty glass and Marceline very carefully floated herself upright, wrapping her arms and the borrowed cloak around Bonnie. Luckily her vision stayed normal and she barely felt nauseated this time. Peppermint looked between them for a second then stepped away muttering about checking on the staff. He'd known they were involved almost from the start but he'd always been discreet about allowing them their space.

They sat there for a long time just holding each other, Bonnie crying as quietly as she could and Marcy stroking her hair and humming comfortingly to her. Most of the pain was healing, slipping down to a low level itchy burn in the places where even her vampire magic needed a little time to fix all the damage. She felt the two jagged halves of her liver reattach to each other with a strange _plop_ in her chest. Internal organs were overrated anyways, it wasn't like she really needed a liver. But she supposed for form's sake it was probably better to heal it.

Eventually Bonnie's sniffles slowed and then stopped. She pulled back to look Marceline over again and laughed shakily as she tugged what looked like half a severed finger from Marcy's hair.

"Is this yours?" she asked, watery smile thin but just managing to cling in place. Marceline chuckled and wiggled all ten of her own fingers at Bonnie.

"Nope, just a souvenir. I'm sorry, Bon. I didn't mean to scare you. You know how I get when I'm fighting. They were here to hurt you and the boys, I kinda lost it for a while back there."

She sighed looking down guiltily, wrapping Olgar's borrowed cloak tighter around her shoulders, thankful it was big enough to cover her completely. Bonnie gently placed her fingers across the top of Marceline's hands and began to carefully stroke the new shallow scars she'd picked up that evening.

"It's not that I really thought you were dead when Olgar burst into the hall carrying you. You should have seen him, Marcy. He cried, he even drew the valknut on your cheek in his own blood and sang to Odin to take you to Valhalla. I swear I do not understand that guy, one minute he hates you and the next he's pretty much adopted you as a Viking whether you like it or not. I knew you weren't dead. Mostly. I hoped so anyway, I worried you might not wake up but I knew you weren't completely gone. But I did think maybe you'd left after we couldn't find you; I thought you'd been taken or that you'd just gone again, decided you didn't want this after all. I didn't handle it well."

Bonnie turned Marcy's hand in her own, frowning as her fingers traced the mess of new silvery lines across the wrist courtesy of the poison dagger. Marceline scanned her tear stained face with worried eyes; it wasn't often Bonnie was so open with her insecurities.

"I know I've not always had a great track record in the past. But I'd never leave now, I want to be what you need me to be. Don't you know that? I killed a dozen mercenaries in the nude in front of your old hero gang just because they interrupted our after sex snuggling, did you really think I'd just leave? Being crushed to death five times over in a massive explosion was definitely not my favourite way to end a spectacular night of passion and it's not high on my list of activities to repeat. But before that, I meant what I told you. I do love you, Bonnibel." she said quietly, trying to force as much truth and honesty into her voice as possible. Because she needed her lover to understand, she wasn't going away this time. If there was ever a time to be open and honest she figured it was then.

"I- I was scared. I didn't know where you were. I wanted you to have just left, in a way. Because that would mean you would be safe, not being tortured somewhere. I could be mad at you instead of terrified for you. But then Olgar brought you back with half your skull missing and your chest caved in, but still alive and still here. And I didn't know if your brain was too damaged to wake up, I didn't know if you were just going to stay like that forever. I've only stopped crying now because I've run out of tears, Marcy." Bonnie finished in a whisper, shivering violently again. Marceline made to shrug out of the cloak and wrap it around her, laughing at Bonnie's horrified expression.

"Chill, it's nothing they haven't seen before."

It was worth it just to see the panic in Bonnie's eyes melt and twist into fury as Marcy whipped the cloak off, revealing that she'd transformed halfway into her bat form and was currently covered in thick dark hair that obscured everything from her neck downwards.

She threw herself at Marceline who caught her easily, still hairy and laughing scratchily. Bonnie had no doubt been about to launch into some righteous tirade about how distasteful it was to wander around nude in front of company but Marcy cut her off before she could get the first word out by deftly pressing her lips against Bonnie's and wrapping her furry arms tightly around her. Bonnie relaxed against her with an almost inaudible sigh. They kissed tenderly for a few moments in breathless silence until Marceline broke off with an embarrassed gasp, feeling the prickle of eyes on the back of her neck again. Bonnie just smiled her sweetest smile and instead of the expected yell her words came out low and quiet as she rested her head against the vampire's shoulder.

"You know we're practically in public here. And you nearly died tonight. And you know how I feel about making this public, right?"

Marceline nodded, a sour frown twisting it's way onto her face. Oh how she knew and hated how Bonnie felt about making it public.

"No Marcy, I don't think you do. I almost lost you. And I got some really good advice from an old friend tonight. I wasn't sure I could do this but when you woke up I found that I knew exactly what I wanted and just like earlier I really wanted to just do something without having to justify myself first. I promised myself if you woke up I'd, well, think about it I guess. But you know I tend to over think things so this time I'm just going to follow my instincts instead. And my instincts say that the kingdom can come second to you for once, I want everyone to know that you're mine."

Across the room Billy's smile widened. He was a hero; heroes fixed problems.


	11. Chapter 11

**Oh guys, your reviews make me so happy! Thanks so much to everyone who's stuck with the story this far. There's a lot going on at the minute so my updates might be a little haphazard; we had a death in the family last week and other less dramatic ongoing things. But I'm working on another full novel-length real world AU and some one shots, as soon as I get this behemoth posted you can expect to see those.**

 **Question; if Foundlings had a sequel/s, was part of a larger series covering a pretty long span of time and eventually containing adult Finn and Jake, would you want to read that? Because I've got several chapters of a sequel already written, but I don't know if people would be interested in reading it. Please let me know.**

 **Content warning: not too much that might be triggering in this chapter, some references to torture but nothing as graphic as previous chapters. References to mental illness, grief, etc.**

* * *

Ralquinn surveyed the dancing green flames of the monstrous demon fire as they lit up Abadeer's cave. The General had known the price of failure and to his credit when the time came he had felt no fear of it. He had simply failed, and he had accepted his fate stoically, even lifting his arms to the iron peg Ralquinn bound him to before his torture began. The troops that remained were slowly burning alive inside the cave house as the magical fire consumed their flayed flesh. The General's life had been forfeit along with theirs, he could allow none of the mercenaries that they'd hired for the assault to run back to the dirty bars he'd found them in to spread tales of the Dark Majesty and his plans.

Ralquinn licked his lips, savouring the lingering flavour of The General's liver almost as much as he'd enjoyed the man's agonised screams when he pried his chest apart and ripped the organ from him. Ralquinn had healed the injury with a muttered demon spell but kept the liver, The General's own body would do the rest. It was past dawn, hours since, and when Ralquinn had left him miles from nowhere in the grasslands he was already turning a sickening shade of yellow and his breathing was becoming laboured.

Ja'an stepped up almost silently behind Ralquinn and he caught her clawed paw just before it connected with his neck, twisting her arm back at the elbow and making her hiss again with mingled pain and pleasure.

Their target had moved, and before he'd been tortured The General had told them everything. Dark Majesty's wrath was terrible, the earth had shook with it. But Ralquinn was please to bring him some good news too. It had taken his mercenaries a number of hours to discover the hidden tunnel and then several more and several lives to disarm the traps along the passageway. Abadeer was evidently a paranoid type, as well as sentimental.

Ralquinn lived to serve and after he was through questioning and slowly murdering The General he was thrilled to report back to Dark Majesty that a thorough search of the vampire's home had revealed a great trove of personal information. The Dog and human children's scents were reportedly all over the house and a rummage through the vampire's closet had proved most fruitful. They had recovered a box that contained a wealth of photographic evidence of the vampire's relationship with the lovely princess of the Candy Kingdom. Some of the photographs were much more personal in nature and most of the others were sickeningly romantic, pictures of the two of them in various romantic poses together with descriptions written on the back in a quick, messy hand. Ja'an had been a singular delight when he'd shown her them, yowling like he'd set her tail on fire. He wondered what her deal was with the vampire, there was quite obviously something unresolved in her hatred of Abadeer Junior.

Ralquinn took a few minutes to fantasize about lovingly ripping long strips of pretty pink flesh from every one of those shapely curves. If the princess screamed as nicely as she posed he was in for a real treat. He'd never tasted candy princess before, he thought she'd probably taste like blueberries and agony. Just delicious, he was very much looking forward to it.

"Ja'an, your task has just changed." he said with a vicious smile, looking down at the writhing demon in his hands almost as though he was surprised to still find her twisting in his grasp. She hissed in reply and thrashed against him, he gripped her harder her with a smirk.

"Find Princess Bubblegum. Do not harm her. Bring her to me as unhurt as you can manage. But Ja'an, do not be seen by the vampire. Do not engage her. If you break those terms I'll do worse than just tear your flesh."

Ralquinn let the tips of his fingernails slip easily through Ja'an's skin for the second time that night and for the second time she jerked and screamed.

...

Joshua the Dog liked to think he was a reasonable man. He had his prejudices like everyone else but they were based on grains of truth, such as ogres making bad parents and vampires as a rule being untrustworthy and bloodthirsty. He didn't approve of his princess getting involved with Marceline again but he held his tongue because it didn't seem like she'd listen to him in any case.

It wasn't that he didn't think Marceline cared about the princess but he had seen how hurt Bubblegum had been when they'd fought. He'd been the one who came to visit every few days trying to cheer her up, for the first two months she barely stepped foot out of her rooms and it was a long time after that before he saw her smile again in a way that even approached normal. So letting the vampire back into her life was not something he thought was a good idea. If he was being completely honest he wanted her to find a nice man and settle down with a family, it had done him and Margaret the world of good.

Everyone made bad choices in their teens. Even he had. But they were both essentially immortal, both stuck forever in that indeterminate phase before adulthood fully kicked in and he didn't really see a way he could make them grow up. Marceline was frozen at nineteen, the age she'd been when she received the vampire bite. He'd heard rumours about how it had happened and whether or not she'd wanted to be Turned in the first place but she never spoke of it and if she had regrets about what she'd become he saw no evidence of it; she seemed to relish every last thing about being undead up to and including terrifying most regular folk she met.

There were good reasons why vampires were so rare, Marceline had taken down more than her fair share of her own kind in her time and she made no secret of that fact, although she wasn't forthcoming on the why. And Bubblegum was at least eight hundred years old, they'd know each other for centuries. Joshua wasn't sure how long they'd been sleeping together but he was willing to bet it wasn't a recent arrangement. Technically the princess could be any age she wanted but it was telling that she chose to stay forever eighteen. Joshua couldn't help but think it was a terrible decision, handicapping herself with teenage hormones when she could easily give herself a few more grams of candy biomass and add years of wisdom. She should choose to be wiser and older and he was sure she could easily do it, it was selfish to make the entire kingdom suffer simply to avoid displeasing her chosen bed warmer. It was exactly the sort of thing he'd expect from a headstrong teenager, in fact.

His head was spinning with it all. He was still shocked from the sudden attack and unnerved by Bubblegum's abrupt decision to go public with her relationship. Joshua was certain that he heard them doing unnatural things all the time, even when they were obviously doing something innocent like sitting at dinner together. It freaked him out; was the vampire somehow using telepathy to push ghostly moaning into his head?

Still, the reasonable part of his brain knew that everyone was entitled to be with whomever they wanted and the princess wouldn't drop her lover just because Joshua disapproved. He just wished she hadn't chosen to take a vampire to her bed; no matter how he tried to remember the sweet and caring Marceline who sang Jake to sleep and played with Finn his memory was overlaid with visions of blood stained fangs and cold dead hands ending in clawed fingers.

He also heard them whispering to each other and wondered why nobody else seemed to notice, when he looked in their direction they could be standing at opposite ends of the hall and not looking at each other, but he could still hear them whispering dirty secrets in the back of his head. Perhaps _he_ was telepathic and accidentally tuning into their thoughts; they were not the thoughts of someone with a Good or Neutral alignment. The things he heard Marceline whisper made him shiver with disgust, clearly the vampire was perverted and dangerous.

Joshua was struggling to come to a decision on the best course of action. The vampire had been quite firm that her basic alignment was Good, despite being an inveterate trickster she was not someone who had any real malicious intent. Joshua had his doubts. He remembered all the things vampires were rumoured to do to their mates and was constantly watching Bubblegum for any obvious puncture marks or ripped skin. So far she'd been excellent at hiding it but he knew the evidence was there under her clothes, torn into her lovely soft flesh by merciless undead fingers and fangs.

So far he'd not actually caught Marceline trying to hurt anyone and she was as gentle as a lamb with his Jake and the human baby. Nobody else seemed to mistrust her either. But vampires were predators and candy was a foodstuff, it was only a matter of time before his heroic skills were needed. If she hurt his princess in any way again then no matter how good she was with his son, he'd be forced cut her head off himself and watch her turn to dust. This time she'd stay dead and nobody would mourn her. Olgar's outburst had been as sickening as it was unexpected; he cried over a _vampire_. It turned Joshua's stomach. He used to respect Olgar, too.

Joshua had missed the battle because on Billy's orders he had stayed in the nursery, defending the princess and the children in case their attackers slipped past the Guard. It was a polite way of keeping him away from the action and Joshua hadn't been fooled for a second; Billy obviously thought he didn't have what it took any more. That had been galling, given that the great hero himself was now a wrinkled old man. But Joshua knew how to follow orders and if he was with the princess then he could be certain she wasn't being defiled by anything unnatural, like a reanimated bloodsucking corpse for example. He'd angrily scoured the closet in the adjoining room to find her something else to wear; she was practically making him watch by parading herself around in just a hastily knotted bed sheet toga.

Billy had never been his formal captain but Joshua respected him, up to a point. Now Billy was watching him closely and Joshua wasn't sure he could trust the giant any more. Billy had actually encouraged the princess in her reckless declaration and he'd kept Joshua away from where he could have actually been useful during the fight.

After the battle had been won Joshua was very much back in demand; somehow he ended up as part of the clean-up crew in the royal bedchamber. He had seen the carnage of what looked to him to be hundreds of dead mercenaries neatly butchered into slips of meat and bone by Marceline's wicked axe. He'd heard many breathless accounts of how fearsome she'd been in the battle and truly he believed it. She was inhumanly strong and completely invulnerable; in defence of her favourite sex toy she'd casually murdered a hundred men, proving that the vampire insanity was strong in her no matter how she tried to hide it from him. If the rumours were true she hadn't even bothered to hide her nakedness, perhaps the sight of her bared breasts had terrified her enemy into retreat. It was revolting to throw it in his face like that, there was no way a vampire could be in his princess's bedroom naked for entirely innocent reasons. He shook his head sadly. His sweet princess must be going mad.

But Joshua's opinion of Marceline wasn't the only secret he was keeping. He didn't want to tell anyone because they wouldn't understand.

It had taken a lot for him to admit it to himself but Margaret spoke to him sometimes, when nobody else could hear. She didn't like the vampire either. She didn't like Jake being near her. She knew why Joshua had needed to find Marceline at first but she didn't like that he had to stay around her now, she constantly whispered to him that the princess wouldn't send her dangerous undead lover away from their precious boy.

At first Joshua thought he was going crazy, but now he was sure he wasn't. Margaret told him so, she told him so many things only Margaret could know; things about their wedding night and the deep secrets couples share only with each other. She was speaking beyond the grave to help guide him. It only made sense, he loved her so much that he felt her loss like a physical wound in his chest; of course she couldn't really be completely gone. And so after days of trying to ignore her he'd finally accepted that his wife's spirit was reaching across the great divide to him, guiding him.

Margaret often said Jermaine wanted him to avenge them. She wanted him to take the babies and run away from the palace; it was full of freaks and untrustworthy people anyway. He heard other whisperers too and sometimes his head was so crowded he had to go and throw up before they'd go away, or pound his fist against his ear until the pain drove them off.

He was rocking Jake in the nursery and telling him all his troubles, father to son.

"I heard them last night, Jakey. I heard the princess scream 'Stop, you're hurting me!' and I heard the vampire laugh at her. I hear them all the time. The things they do aren't fit to be repeated, but if I see any injury on her Ladyship I'll take the vampire's head off with her own axe. You'll be proud of your old man, won't you Jakey?"

Jake was nibbling Joshua's paw gently and wagged his tail when he heard his name.

"Dada!" he smiled, nuzzling into Joshua's paw. "Pick up, Dada!"

Joshua lifted his son up to his shoulder and let Jake lick his ear then expand around his neck like a living scarf. Jake still knew how to make him smile at least. In the nursery he was safe with his son.

"She talks to me more and more now. Your Mom wants me to avenge her but I don't understand what she means, son. I killed the creature she left for me in the orchard. Nobody seems very interested in finding out what that thing even was. Do you think she'll come back fully or just keep talking to us like this?"

Joshua petted Jake roughly on the head, ruffling up his fur and making him giggle. His son wriggled and yipped, excited that he was talking about Margaret.

"You're going to grow up strong and fine, you're going to be a hero too. And if any undead monsters try to bite you then you take my demon blood sword and you take their heads clean off their shoulders, do you understand?"

He hefted Jake and looked him dead in the eyes. Jake licked the tip of his nose and wriggled again. Joshua took that as a 'yes' and nodded gravely to his son while Margaret whispered on and on into his ear about justice and revenge and spilling blood.

Just then the nursery door opened and the princess entered carrying Finn, looking flushed and happy. He supposed it was good to see her smile, since the attack last night she'd been tense and jumpy, constantly looking over her shoulder. Now she seemed in surprisingly high spirits for someone who'd just thrown their reputation away for a walking corpse. For a moment Joshua could see the outline of the vampire behind her, ready to pounce on his beautiful princess and drink her dry right there on the nursery rug. He let out a startled gasp and the vision went weirdly thin and faded into nothingness. Just a trick of the light. He shook his head like he was trying to get water out of his ears, clearing his mind for a moment.

"He said 'Bobobo', I think he was trying to say my name!"

She smiled at him, holding the little boy out proudly. Finn waved to him and Jake barked happily at the arrival of his playmate. Bubblegum obviously hadn't noticed anything amiss and he told himself sternly to get a grip and stop thinking badly of the princess's girlfriend. Even if she was a demonic bloodsucker.

Somehow whenever Joshua tried to think of Marceline his mind was filled with a foggy rage, he shook his head again and it cleared further. What was he thinking? He trusted Marceline with his son's life, she wasn't a close friend but he'd known her for years and she was fun to be around, a real party animal and generous spirited. What was going on in his head?

Joshua tried to smile but Margaret was screaming at him about vengeance and honour, about that dangerous and unpredictable undead abomination and how they needed proof she was going to hurt their son.

"That's great, your Ladyship. I need to go to the bathroom now."

He rushed upright and dumped Jake unceremoniously onto the rug. The princess's mouth was frozen halfway open and his son blinked at him in confusion as he hurried out of the room, muttering under his breath.

"Moma?" Jake asked, looking around for the lady his Dad had been talking about, bottom lip beginning to shake when he didn't see her anywhere.

...

Billy was becoming increasingly worried about Joshua. Several times now he'd walked in on the old Dog muttering to himself and once he'd heard him say quite clearly "Margaret I love you beyond anything in this world but please just be quiet and let me think for a second." Billy had asked him who he'd been talking to and Joshua just looked at him with unfocussed eyes then wandered away, still muttering.

Somehow it was worse in the days immediately after the mercenary attack, more often Joshua looked like he was caught in a waking dream. Everyone went about their business in the palace, cleaning broken things away and setting the tower back to rights, blocking up the other secret tunnels that lead from anywhere outside of the building's perimeter. Billy made it his special business to keep an eye on Joshua in case he did anything crazy. At strategy meetings the Dog sat quietly and stared intently at each of their faces in turn, sometimes seeming as though he wanted to speak but never quite managing it. Any other time Billy would have put it down to grief and the frustration of having no leads on who had sent the mercs, but now he wasn't so sure.

Joshua was watching Marceline and Princess Bubblegum like a hawk; they weren't flaunting anything but they often smiled at each other and shared private jokes in a totally natural way for a couple who had been together for decades. Billy couldn't figure what Joshua's problem was with them, but he resolved to keep a close eye on his old friend and on Jake too, just in case.

Billy had personal experience of guilt and grief and he knew how it could mess with the most reasonable men. Sometimes in his nightmares he still heard Goltan's agonised screams as the flesh slowly peeled from his bones under The General's monstrous demon fire. But he didn't hold full conversations with Goltan's ghost, even in the privacy of his own head. He was quite clear that his old mentor was dead and that it was his fault, he didn't let that knowledge warp his mind any more. He'd spent years in retreat refusing to adventure or lift a finger for another being until he'd discovered that Joshua and his little boy were in danger; that had been the kick he needed to start caring about the world again. Billy was worried that Joshua's guilt over leaving his wife and other son to die had broken something massive inside of him.

It was with a heavy heart that he pulled Marceline aside two evenings after the attack, as Joshua brusquely refused her offer to put the boys to bed with a lullaby. She'd only been awake for a few hours but was up with more regularity through the day now to spend time with her partner, and he suspected to keep an eye out for trouble. Billy had waited until she seemed a little more alert after dinner to speak to her, he didn't want her to miss the importance of his information. He caught her arm as she drifted past looking perplexed.

"Marceline, do you have a moment to talk?"

His voice was quiet but she started in surprise, lost in her thoughts and apparently not realising he'd been addressing her at first. Billy supposed they hadn't ever really talked much in the past so it might be a good opportunity to get to know her a little better.

"Uh, yeah. I've got nothing planned for just now." she replied, looking just as confused as ever. They'd never shared a conversation longer than a few words but Billy trusted her on principle, Bubblegum was usually an excellent judge of character. Billy did not like to waste words so he opened his mouth and just laid it out to her as he saw things.

"Joshua is acting weird, even for someone who just found half his family burned to death in the wreckage of their home. He's staring at you and talking to his dead wife and I'm worried he's lost it. Marceline, just look after yourself, ok? Joshua's been a friend for most of my life and I've never seen him like this before. He's unhinged. I know you don't know me so well but you're important to the princess and I respect you. I'm just looking out for you."

She nodded slowly, looking pensively in the direction Joshua had just hurried off to.

"Do you think he's a threat to the children?" she asked, still staring after the Dog. Billy thought for a moment.

"Naw, he loves those little guys. It's you he's got a problem with. I think it's you and the princess and the fact that you basically forced her to stop treating you like a dirty little secret. Well done for that, by the way. It's about time she publicly acknowledged you. Joshua's never been funny about vampires, you'd think he'd have noticed by now that you're not about to torture, drain and turn the princess for your own sick pleasure. He's a good guy but he's stubborn and really messed up right now. Mix that with being unhinged from grief, it's a bad combination and there's no predicting what he might do. Just keep your eyes open, ok? I'd hate for you to have to hurt him." Billy explained with a frown.

In a fight between Marceline and Joshua there would only ever be one winner. Joshua was a great hero and a skilled fighter but Marceline had a thousand years' experience of surviving assassination attempts. She was easily the strangest vampire Billy had ever met; he assumed her half demon side kept the usual undead insanity in check. Ironic that the things that had made her less human before the Mushroom War now helped her keep her humanity better than most other vampires. No wonder she'd risen to the rank of queen.

Marceline nodded slowly, looking lost in thought again.

"I won't hurt him unless I absolutely have to but I won't stand there and show him exactly where to aim his stake either. I'll speak to Bonnie about it tonight; she always knows how to handle people better than I do. Perhaps there's a quest or something we can send him on, get him away from the palace and give him something else to focus on?"

She turned hopeful eyes to Billy. He shook his head, if only it were that easy with Joshua.

"He won't go. He's convinced himself that you're a problem and he won't just leave his son in your care and go tearing off around the kingdoms on some obvious wild goose chase." Billy shook his head again with a sigh. "You gotta hope the princess has some better ideas because otherwise he's gonna sneak into your bedroom and try to chop your head off. Like I said, try not to hurt him any more than you have to. He's really messed in the head right now.

"Vampire's honour." she replied, smiling widely to show off her fangs. Despite being as open minded as he possibly could be it still slightly disturbed Billy to see the length of those needle sharp teeth, he understood why plenty of people found the vampire unnerving. But a promise was a promise, Joshua would only be hurt proportional to the hurt he attempted to deal out, that was only fair. It was up to the Dog how badly he wanted Marceline to kick his buns if he decided to try to take her down. Billy nodded his goodbyes and lumbered off to the courtyard; he and Eagle had promised to run through some training with the Banana Guard tonight; Glob knew they needed it.

Billy jogged through the halls, big feet slapping against the polished tiles. He was humming tunelessly to himself and completely missed the slatted golden eyes following him from high in the corner of a vaulted window.


	12. Chapter 12

**As usual, major apologies for the lack of updates. I've had internet connection problems and for some reason the app on my phone won't run properly. Anyway, like always, send your reviews and stuff, they make me squeal at a pitch so high bats think I'm trying to communicate with them.**

 **Accidentally posted the same chapter twice, so I'm just gonna go edit and post the next one by way of apology. So yaay, double update today for you guys!**

 **Content warning: More insanity, allusions to violent character death.**

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The courtyard was cool at night, deliciously fresh and softly fragranced with the perfume carried on the breeze from the adjoining rose garden. It was a welcome change from the stuffy bedchamber Emerald Rainicorn had been confined to for the last few days. She was coiled against a wall watching Billy and Eagle Mask drill the Banana Guards and occasionally offering a word or two of advice. After she'd been signed off as officially Not Dead Yet by Dr Princess she'd been ordered to rest and relax.

Her injury hadn't irreparably damaged any internal organs but it had ripped a hole the size of an orange in her left lung, broken several ribs and put more pressure on her heart than was advisable given her age; despite the usual fast healing abilities of a Rainicorn she was still sore and stiff two days later.

Emerald didn't like to admit it but she was somewhat jealous of Marceline. She'd healed from being five times deader than usual within the time it took to eat a meal, even the fine mesh of new scars that had crisscrossed her body were fading after just forty eight hours and she was back to her usual pale and beautiful self. Emerald's sinuous outline would be forever marred by a tangle of puncture lines along her side, showing where the axe she hadn't seen in time had ripped into her and ended her thirty year record of no serious injury in battle.

Eagle had cut her attacker in half with an angry howl as Emerald lay bleeding on the floor and in a moment of tranquil clarity she fixed that auspicious image into her mind and made her peace with the earthly realm, closing her eyes and bidding goodbye to the world.

When she'd woken in the throne room with her worried comrades around her she was so confused. It didn't look like heaven, she'd been expecting to see her long dead aunt Jae and be lead to the great cosmic consciousness that she'd spent her whole earthly life meditating to understand. Instead she'd seen Peppermint Butler covered in a light spray of her own green blood and trying to fit a mess of bandages to her side.

She had to admit that the first thing she felt was disappointment, Emerald supposed that all great heroes craved a glorious death in battle when they aged past their prime; it was better to die young and beautiful than to fade into insignificance.

But she was alive and she supposed she should be thankful. Obviously her tasks hadn't been completed yet; she must have left something incomplete in the earthly dimensions.

Emerald's mouth was filled with blood and her translator device had been lost somewhere, she struggled to talk at first past the agony in her side. Peppermint Butler knew enough Korean to understand that she had a crushing pain spreading from the puncture wound but it was nonetheless a lonely recovery until her translator was eventually found and returned to her. As Princess Bubblegum's personal assistant the little candy man didn't have time to chat much and his Korean wasn't fantastic anyway; he was most adept at asking if she would like any kimchi.

And now she sat by the wall and meditated again. Closing her eyes she focussed her breathing into a slow, calm rhythm and shut out all thoughts until her mind was utterly centered on nothingness. Her body relaxed and pain fell away to a distant memory; there was nothing but the gentle sensations of breathing and her own loose muscles.

Meditation had helped Emerald more than she could ever say. When she'd been young and reckless and run away from her life of luxury to join the Honour Guard she'd turned to it as a way to calm her troubled emotions. Later it had become a means of disciplining herself after battle, to see that the taking of an evil life was necessary to allow the good to flourish. No matter how much she deplored the killing of any creature Emerald acted as she did for the greater good. Not stopping the evil and desperate would allow them to continue to hurt the innocent and that would be a violation of her vows.

Now her meditation skills were put to their last purpose, in her opinion the most useful. She cut out all distractions and focussed her mind down onto one single thought.

 _Why is all of this happening?_

So far she knew that some great unknown evil had killed the parents of Jake and Finn and was hunting them too. She'd seen with her own eyes the destruction of Joshua's home and the charred bodies of his wife and son, they were laid to rest by the Honour Guard in the orchard Margaret had loved so much and only had a few precious months to tend.

There was no sign of Finn's family, no body of his dead parents and the only firsthand account of their death was from a creature Joshua claimed to have killed in the same orchard. She'd seen the scorch mark and sword wounds on the tree he'd tortured it against but the body itself seemed to have melted into some kind of strong acid. The patch of grass directly underneath was dead and blackened, like it had been burned away.

Who had the power to do such a thing? She searched her memories for the details of the villains she'd encountered in her long life. The Fire King was undoubtedly cruel and evil but he usually preferred to stick to his own realm, spreading misery among his own kind. The few times he had ventured to the grasslands he'd been content to burn things and keep away from Bubblegum, he seemed to be scared of her. Emerald understood that at least; for such a sweet and unassuming woman the princess wielded an awful lot of political power.

The same could be said of the Lord of Evil, he rarely left the Nightosphere and if Marceline's own father was involved there was little chance he'd try to kill her. He was chaotic and insane but if he'd ever tried to physically harm his own child Emerald was sure she'd already have heard several concept albums about it. She snorted and allowed herself a rare moment of amusement. Secretly she'd always suspected she must be the only creature in Ooo who thought Marceline's lyrics weren't all that good and that she needed to grow up and just talk to her father like an adult. That girl had even more issues with her parents than Emerald had.

Emerald breathed deeply and refocused, she shed all thoughts of Marceline's musical career and family troubles. She concentrated all her mental power back to her task.

Ice King didn't play such long or deadly games, his goal was only ever the conquest of princesses and Emerald didn't see how driving Princess Bubblegum firmly back into the arms of her erstwhile lover would serve any of his purposes. If Ice King had any involvement he would have made his move by now, he wasn't strong on subtlety.

Emerald mentally frowned, slowing her breathing almost to a stop and focusing harder. That thought was important. There was subtlety and then there was bad planning; whoever was behind this had allowed their two main targets to find each other and be protected by the best group of heroes for a thousand miles. Clearly something had gone wrong. But who else could they be facing? Emerald had encountered many villains over the course of her years and few exhibited cruelty and stupidity in equal force like this. Perhaps it was someone new?

The Lich had been cruel and extremely well organised but Emerald discounted him out of hand. He was encased in amber inside an ancient tree thanks to Billy; even if he had somehow escaped he would have sought out and destroyed the one who imprisoned him in the first place, surely? He worked alone; the Lich had no need for mercenaries or underlings. And he would have no knowledge of who the future heroes were unless he had somehow projected his consciousness through time.

Emerald knew such a thing was possible with the right magic but so far as she knew it always irreparably damaged a mind and body, disrupting normal thought processes and leaving the user mentally impaired, let alone the damage that could happen to the host body if and when they formed a paradox with their past self.

There were safe ways to do it; she was one of the few people alive who knew that Eagle Mask had swum through a door in the freezing ocean of her own world and found herself transported to Ooo as a child. But that had been an accident; there was no way to replicate it so far as she was aware. And there were rumours about a creature called Prismo that existed outside of any conventional dimension, but Emerald didn't know if he was just a legend or if he could be coerced into projecting another being through space-time.

Princess Bubblegum would know more about it, Emerald thought, she'd studied the possibilities of time travel once and had probably figured out a way to protect her mind and body if she ever did manage to travel in time. But Emerald highly doubted the princess would have shared that knowledge with the Lich. He was incapable of changing or learning, if he had sent himself backwards through time then it would have been with the usual magic-

Emerald jerked out of her meditative trance as a furious howl ripped through the quiet of the night.

Joshua the Dog was standing across the courtyard from her, visibly shaking with rage and screaming at a dark outline hovering in the shadows a few feet above the ground on the opposite wall. Emerald stilled even further, from the position she was in she couldn't risk moving and alerting Joshua to her presence although she could see the hulking shape of Billy inching closer from behind the Dog's back.

He had the tip of his blood sword pushed against Marceline's throat hard enough that a slow line of red was running down to stain her collar as she stared at him in shock. Obviously Joshua had taken her by surprise, there was no way she could move without risking having her head sliced off and the vampire hung in the air as perfectly still as if she'd been a part of the wall. Emerald could clearly see the confusion in her eyes as Joshua broke into an open growl, lips pulling back to show his teeth, sword hand flexing and eliciting a small gasp of pain as his blade cut deeper into her throat. In his other hand he clutched a piece of paper, Emerald couldn't be sure from such a distance but it looked like it was covered in writing.

"What the hell have you done with our princess you perverted freak? WHERE IS SHE? WHERE DID YOU HIDE HER?"

Marceline couldn't have replied even if she wanted to with the way Joshua's sword was slowly impaling her larynx. Before he could do any more damage Billy's big hand closed around Joshua's sword arm and hefted him into the air. His blade clattered to the floor and Marceline slumped in relief, rubbing her still bleeding throat. It seemed to take an age before the blood even stopped and longer still before the wound began to close.

...

Bonnibel went from soundly asleep to rocketing sideways with a terrified shriek. The side of her head impacted hard against the stone floor and she groggily tried to open her eyes, instinctively rolling with her attacker and struggling to raise her arms to defend herself against the blows she expected to come raining down any second; flinching in confusion when they didn't.

Arms like cold steel locked around her and lifted her bodily from the floor into a crushing embrace and the crazy thump of her heart began to ease as she recognised the centuries familiar weightless sensation of floating in the air. Finally getting her eyes to focus, she blinked a couple of times to clear her vision and looked up into Marceline's face.

"Whu-?" Bonnie questioned in bewilderment, raising a hand and gingerly massaging the lump on the side of her head where Marcy's enthusiasm had knocked her from her chair.

"You were missing! I couldn't find you and I thought they'd taken you and you s _tupid, stupid woman_ , I was frantic and you- you fell asleep in your lab again and I didn't know where you were! I looked everywhere! And then I saw you slumped like that and I thought you were hurt-"

Marceline eventually stopped talking to draw a shuddering breath. She didn't need the oxygen but it was impossible to continue talking without adding some extra air to her lungs. Before she could rant more Bonnie laid a warm hand gently against her mouth and smiled as reassuringly as she could.

"I thought I told you I was going to try to get on with some work this evening. Didn't I?"

She smiled up at her vampire, perplexed but not entirely unhappy that simply being away for a few hours could work her up into such a frenzy. In a strange way it was reassuring; she still had secret fears that one day she would wake up and find Marceline had just disappeared again, lost in her own plans and drifting away for who knew how long.

Bonnie studied Marceline's panicked expression with a tender smile, fingers stroking the side of her face. Then she frowned, gaze running along the top of Marceline's shirt.

"Why is there blood on your collar? Please tell me you didn't hurt someone, Marceline." Bonnie sighed in exasperation. That was another thing she'd been nervous of; that Marcy couldn't maintain her new found maturity and would end up in a fight or wrapped up in herself again and forget all her new responsibilities. Bonnie pulled back a little from where she was still held in a grip of iron to examine the other woman's face. It was still deeply lined with worry and right in the centre of her throat there ran a slightly twisted silver scar, fresh and deep, still looking pinkish where the blood vessels under the skin had been broken.

Bonnie reached out to touch it gently but Marceline jerked her head away, a small hiss escaping her as though it was somehow still painful. Bonnie didn't understand why Marceline hadn't just healed it instantly like she had all her other injuries.

"Marcy, what happened?" Bonnie asked in her gentlest tones. The vampire avoided her gaze for a moment, swallowing compulsively before she replied.

"I'm struggling to find a way to break this to you gently. Ok, Joshua went completely crazy and sawed halfway through my neck with his damned demon sword, Billy's got him locked up in the library for now and somehow that fucking little pervert found one of the more personal letters I wrote you that time when I was on tour and you couldn't come with. I guess he was in our bedroom rummaging around in our intimate stuff since so far as I know you don't go around handing my deepest darkest feelings out to just anyone. I was going to talk to you about him tonight but it looks like we're having this conversation now instead since he tried to decapitate me whilst screaming that you were missing and I'd hidden you somewhere. That's why I panicked, and then I couldn't find you and- did I mention demon blood swords are excellent for injuring demons? And apparently half demons too, they're really fucking good for trying to hack off a half demon's head with."

Bonnie stared at her, open mouthed.

"Tell me this a really tasteless joke, Marcy. Please, I promise I won't even be mad."

Marceline shook her head slowly, drifting back to the lab workbench and carefully settling Bonnie back onto her stool. She hissed as glacial fingers made contact with the lump on her head but she had to admit it felt good; one of the surprise perks of sleeping with a vampire was that she doubled as an ice pack in a pinch. She rested her head against her lover's palm and closed her eyes.

Bonnie needed to think; she had no doubt that Joshua's sudden madness was somehow connected to everything else that had happened. She felt like the answer was staring her in the face if only she could take a step back and see it clearly. The sleep fog in her brain didn't help, nor did the lingering dizziness from slamming into the floor. She hadn't managed to sleep much at all since the attack in their bedroom, even when she'd given in and shamefully requested one of Marceline's lullabies. It wasn't really surprising she'd fallen asleep at her workbench.

"I don't understand." she exhaled wearily. "Joshua has been my Champion for years and he's known about us for almost as long as he's been alive. He's never had a problem with us before and it's not like he didn't see for himself exactly what kind of relationship we have."

They both blushed slightly at the recollection; years earlier a much younger and terribly enthusiastic Joshua had come bounding unannounced into Bonnie's private rooms despite the firmly shut door and shrieked louder than either of them when he discovered the princess and the vampire in an extremely exotic position without a stitch of clothing between them. Ever since Joshua had respectfully knocked and waited to be asked to enter, even when he knew for a fact that Marceline was somewhere else.

"Bonnie, he's unhinged." Marceline replied, drifting restlessly around the lab and poking various pieces of scientific equipment out of pure habit. "Did you not hear the part where he discovered his wife and firstborn's charred corpses in the burnt out ruin of his home? If anyone did that to you or Finn..." she trailed off, looking even paler than usual, tension causing the muscles along her arms and back to stand out in deep relief in the dim light of the lab. Bonnie stood and went unsteadily to her side, pulling her down into the tightest hug she could manage, running her hands in soothing circles across Marceline's thin back and murmuring reassuringly into her ear.

"What happened to Margaret and Jermaine was awful and there's no way to soften that. It's clearly broken Joshua in a way that we just can't understand. It's not going to happen to Finn or to me though. I promise you."

Marceline buried her face further into Bonnie's shoulder, clinging on tightly like she was afraid the other woman might disappear.

"We're your family, now. And nobody is going to take us away from you, not ever. You're stuck with us, you hear?"

Bonnibel emphasised the last sentence with a little shake, resting her head against her lover's shoulder and closing her eyes. She supposed it was some kind of ironic karmic payback that they were closer now in the space of a few days than they had been in decades, while an unknown enemy stalked them and threatened to tear their new family apart.

...

Neither woman noticed the door slide silently closed any more than they'd seen it open a crack a couple of minutes earlier. Marceline might have noticed the steady heartbeat hovering around outside the door if she'd concentrated but she was clearly otherwise occupied. That was reassuring, he thought. He wanted all her attention to be on the princess.

The staff were _expressly_ forbidden to spy on their mistress, Peppermint Butler handed out very harsh punishments to anyone he caught at it. He let out a quiet breath of relief; the very best thing about making all the rules was that he could break them without fear of repercussions. He waved his hand towards the worried looking Banana Guards at the end of the corridor, pointed to the laboratory door and mouthed 'she's in there'.

The guards nodded to him in relief and retreated back up the stairs to the palace proper, leaving Peppermint alone with his thoughts. He could trust them with the task of letting the other visitors in the palace know the princess was safe, there was no need for him to accompany them.

He was by his own admission a complicated man; born of two worlds and many commitments. Now one of his mistresses needed help, whether she knew it or not he was bound to protect her any way he could. He knew what he had to do. He cast one last inscrutable look at the laboratory before he hurried back to his private rooms, locking the door behind him.

He had never trusted the Honour Guard further than he could throw them and now look what had happened. Joshua had nearly ruined everything and his wrinkly hero friends had mostly just stood by and watched him. Only Billy was really worth his title and even that was dubious. Peppermint Butler didn't pretend to understand what was going on in the world recently but he knew she needed real protection, from people who wouldn't hesitate to use necessary force.

He settled at his writing desk and pressed a concealed panel on one side. With a silken swish a well-oiled and highly secret drawer slid open to reveal a sheaf of official looking creamy paper, several magical rings and a number of suspiciously brightly coloured candles. There was a folder of paper shoved in the back full of photographs, letters and other assorted blackmail materials as well as a folded square of soft grey cloth adorned with dark stars. He was careful not to accidentally touch the cloth or the blade of the demon blood dagger lying innocently beside it as he pulled a sheet of fresh blank paper from the sheaf.

Peppermint had years of experience with espionage. He knew exactly how to forge this particular handwriting although he'd not had cause to for quite some time; he wanted to be sure he made no mistakes since his sheaf of stolen paper was running alarmingly thin. Gingerly he reached around the dagger to retrieve his blackmail kit and whispered the incantation that would disguise his own sharp scent from the sensitive noses his letter was intended for.

As it took effect he gently unfolded the grey cloth and wrapped it delicately around his right hand. Then he opened the blackmail kit and sorted through the letters until he found the one he was looking for. It was brief but it was a good enough example to copy a longer letter from. His eyes scanned it and a crooked smile touched his lips.

 _Dad._

 _Gone out with friends, don't know when I'll be home. Don't touch my stuff again or else._

 _~ M_

Now that the usual minty aroma of his skin had cleared from the air his nose was filled with the scent of cool rain and thunderstorms brewing with something subtly floral underneath. So similar to her father but with a distinctly feminine edge and a kind of warmth that one only found in folk who had spent a lot of time on the grasslands, even at night.

He put pen to paper then paused, wondering how to begin. The formal royal language was no use here; he needed to mimic the direct and casual tones she more usually employed for these matters.  
 _  
Hey,_

 _I know it's been a while, I hope this letter finds you alive. Something's brewing up here and I need you guys to reprise your former employment for a while. I know I owe you, add this to the list and I promise I'll get around to paying you back some time, yeah? Besides, I know you can't say no anyway. Come alone, I don't need to tell you what happens when you bring your little gang of hangers-on. They're not welcome; it's a strictly old-school reunion. I'll fill you in on the details when you get here, I can't write too much right now so burn this once you've read it. Follow the direction I left in, straight north and be prepared to travel over water, and when you see a big pink palace made of candy knock and ask for the cranky butler. He's got a whole tree rammed up his ass so try not to piss him off too much; I'll meet you as soon as I can get away. I'll explain it all when you're here. Come as quick as you can if don't want to have to read my eulogy._

 _~M_

If Marceline ever found out he'd swiped one of her shirts and used it add her scent to letters he'd forged in her hand then he'd be a dead man, but it was a risk he would gladly take. Peppermint Butler lived to serve; was happiest in the moral grey areas of servitude and it thrilled him deeply to play such long, dark games. The letter was longer than her usual terse communications but it was as brief as he could possibly make it while still conveying the relevant information. It would have to do. Just because the Vampire Queen didn't know he was serving her was no barrier for him.

He chuckled a little as he read back over the letter; it amused him no end to talk that way about himself in her voice. It was no secret that Marceline thought he was a colossal pain in the butt and he played up to her expectation by habit, in exactly the same way he told her father exactly what he expected to hear every time he requested his regular updates on his daughter's progress. _She's wild and reckless but not really dangerous, definitely not arch demon material, my lord. She's distrustful and keeps me away from as much of her relationship with the princess as possible. I will endeavour to find out more but she has clearly inherited your intelligence, my Lord Evil, she evades me at every turn_.

Hunson would nod and mutter and come back with some crazy scheme to trick Marceline back to the Nightosphere which Peppermint Butler always made sure ended in failure. Clearly she had actually inherited her mother's intelligence. Hunson couldn't seem to understand she was an independent woman with thoughts and feelings of her very own. So much the worse for Hunson, in Peppermint's opinion.

In the long run it served nobody's purposes to separate the vampire and the princess, least of all his own. For the look of the thing he put up token resistance to their relationship but when he'd seen them embrace in the laboratory he'd been secretly relieved. Having them both stable and grounded together was an important part of his end goal, he even approved of their decision to make the relationship public knowledge.

The fact that it was particularly redundant was immaterial; every last person in the Kingdom already knew who their princess's regular night-time visitor was. Marceline wasn't known for her subtlety and when she'd done things like custom order a thousand pink roses to be delivered to the palace for the princess it was impossible to keep the rumours from flying. She hadn't even ordered them under a false name; Marceline sucked at subtlety.

Peppermint's smile widened. Not another person left alive knew what his end goal was and he was happy with things that way. He would never hurt either of his mistresses; if he could be certain of the future of the Candy Kingdom then everybody concerned would have what they wanted. Except for Hunson of course, but Peppermint Butler had decided after only a couple of years acting as a spy for him that Bubblegum was the much safer option as the de facto superpower in Ooo's political circles. He'd turned rogue and stopped providing the Lord of Evil with accurate reports around about the same time he'd resolved to overthrow the idiot at the first possible opportunity.

After he'd been ordered to spy on Hunson's own daughter Peppermint Butler had taken the time to get to know Marceline as thoroughly as possible without getting her suspicious; she thought he disliked her on principle and now treated him like a piece of the furniture. It was lucky for her he did like her, secretly.

Hunson was infinitely disposable so long as Peppermint could get him out of the way without rousing suspicion. For all his regular reports he'd never harboured affection for Hunson the way he had for his sweet princess or her vampire consort. The Lord of Evil was a useful tool, a stepping stone to his ultimate end point. And he was also an arrogant dinkus and a lousy father to boot.

Peppermint folded the letter, sealed it with his secret stash of purest red wax and pressed the exact replica of Marceline's official royal stamp into the still hot goo. She probably didn't even know where the original was any more; the Vampire Kingdom had been absorbed into the southern wilderness centuries ago and she had no official royal vampire business to require an official stamp any more. How he'd come across the detials of her former Kingdom and the letter's intended recipients was knowledge that Peppermint Butler intended to take to the grave with him; it hadn't been easy or safe.

He muttered quietly, plummy rich tones clashing strangely with the demon magic he was weaving to send the letter instantly across the distance. A black candle resided inside the hidden drawer for just such emergencies, Peppermint lit the wick with a quick flash of his fingers and held the letter out, watching the cold blue flame pulse as it swallowed the paper whole and left no trace that it had ever existed.

His smile faltered in the flickering blue light, teeth momentarily demonic sharp and eyes burning red. Demon magic took its toll on poor Peppermint Butler, Hunson had never granted him as much power as he'd promised and now he was paying for using almost his entire strength in one go. He dragged his suddenly exhausted limbs across the room to his narrow bed, collapsing into happy dreams of his too mistresses living peacefully together in the light of the grasslands while he sat on a pale throne below, Lord of the Nightosphere. Oh yes, Peppermint Butler was a complicated man.


	13. Chapter 13

**Another chapter, by way of apology for accidentally double posting the last one.**

 **Content warning: insanity, self-harm, lesbianism, creepy voyeurism.**

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As far as dungeons went the Candy Palace had pretty comfortable ones. Joshua's cell was warm and spacious; all his meals were provided from the same selection as was served at the dining table and his every request was granted, within reason. With a few exceptions; he was allowed no weapons, he was not permitted to leave his cell without an armed guard and he was not allowed to see Jake.

Eagle Mask had pulled first guard shift and she was glad of it. No mush brained Banana Guard would be enough to hold Joshua the Dog for long and she wanted to speak with him in private. After the last footsteps of her comrades retreated up the stone steps to the higher floors of the palace she leaned back against the cell wall and closed her eyes for a second, arranging her troubled thoughts in neat order exactly how her Gran Gran had taught her all those years ago, before she swam through the door in the seabed and into Ooo.

Joshua had been her friend since he was barely more than a pup. It was the deepest betrayal that he could act such a way to his host and forsake his comrades; they had all fought and shed blood alongside Marceline. Yes, she was a demon and a vampire and usually Eagle Mask would have her reservations about such a woman but her character was undoubtedly pure. Princess Bubblegum was not someone easily fooled and she would not have fallen in love with someone evil. Eagle Mask trusted the princess's judgement and certainly not Joshua's since his tragedy.

Still, it hurt on a personal level as well. Joshua had betrayed them all when he'd attacked the vampire, betrayed the spirit of his oath to his comrades even if he'd never formally been a member of the Honour Guard. Eagle wanted to know what had driven him to it and she was glad she had most of the night to find out.

"Joshua. Would you speak to me?"

He didn't reply and she risked a glance into the cell through the bars. The old Dog was sitting on his richly embroidered bedspread and talking quietly to himself whilst raking his claws up and down his arms. Small streaks of blood were already showing through his thick golden fur.

Eagle was not easily panicked at the sight of blood. She carefully opened the door and left her broadsword Navigator leaning against the wall outside, confident she could easily overpower the Dog if it came to a fist fight and certain that the longsword was too far away for him to grab. She slipped into the cell and crossed the room in two long strides, resting sinuous coppery hands on Joshua's paws to still his scratching. He looked blankly into her lined face, not recognizing her at all.

"Margaret? Oh Margaret. I tried. I did it all the way you said! I went to Bubblegum's room when she was elsewhere, I found the proof we need. I know what the vampire has planned for her and I tried to stop her but they caught me. I'm so damn sorry, Margaret."

He burst into noisy tears and rested his head against her hand. Eagle said nothing, just stood over him and waited.

"We need to take them away from here. We need to get the children to safety. You're right, the vampire is pure evil, the palace is full of freaks. She's going to use them in some kind of power crystal ritual, she's going to absorb their strength so they can't grow up to be stronger than her. That's why she called them the future heroes, why she came back to find them before they could be a threat. Don't you see? And now I can't stop her."

Eagle closed her eyes for a second, weary with grief for what her old friend had become.

"We need to find him, Margaret. We need to find the Dark Majesty."

Eagle's head snapped up in shock.

"Who? Joshua, who is he? Tell me!" she shook him but he just grinned crookedly and lolled his head, lost in his madness.

"Jermaine's not a weak boy but I don't think he can use my sword yet! Did you hear about the blacksmith from Hotdog Kingdom? He had a job over in lumpy space, I heard he came back with three of those weird shaped girls in tow. No cross species dating for our boys, Margaret! We'll find them good Dog women from good families. Your friend Maria has a daughter doesn't she?"

Eagle stopped listening. She withdrew her hands and left the cell without another word, retrieving Navigator after she double bolted the door. Joshua continued to talk nonsense to his dead wife for the long hours she stood unmoving outside his door, thinking hard over what small amount of information she'd managed to glean from him.

When Olgar came to relieve her in the small hours of the morning she met him with a deep kiss and fierce hug, thankful beyond words that he was sane and whole.

"I won't be sleeping tonight, love. I need to go and raid her Ladyship's library. Joshua spoke but it made no sense, have you ever heard of His Dark Majesty?"

Olgar shook his head, broad face crumpling into his habitual worry lines.

"Try to rest a little if you can, Eagle. The books will still be there tomorrow. And you know I worry about you, darling."

She smiled at her sweet husband and rested a bronzed hand against his cheek. After all those years she still loved him as desperately as ever.

"I can make no promises."

When morning came Eagle had a whole new mess to worry about anyway.

...

Some time just before their usual bedtime the door to the nursery opened and instead of one of the candy people who'd been with them that day the boys had much more interesting visitors.

"Hey little guys, did you miss us?"

Finn and Jake looked up from the wooden blocks they'd been industriously smashing together and shrieked in delight as their two favourite ladies stepped into the room. Jake stretched both front paws up to wiggle in front of them in greeting, making both women laugh. Finn burbled his usual nonsense hellos and was rewarded by the pink lady sweeping down and picking him up, planting a warm kiss on his cheek. Finn laughed happily and tried to nuzzle his face into her funny gummy hair.

Jake was greeted by the dark lady in the same fashion and wiggled upwards from her arms until he was stretched around her cool brow like a furry hat. She laughed her silvery musical laugh and reached up to pluck him from her head, snuggling him into her face and making him giggle as she blew a raspberry against his fuzzy belly. Jake wiggled in delight and his tail wagged so hard he nearly had to stretch his bottom to avoid injury.

They settled themselves comfortably on the pillows scattered liberally around the floor and the boys clustered close, eager to see what today's visit would bring. Whenever the ladies came to see them they always had some treat; a small amount of candy that they were slowly learning to share, a beautiful crystal night light that filled the nursery with glittering rainbow stars when it was dark, a bright picture book that the dark lady read with the most amazing voices and faces to match all the characters.

But despite their smiles today Finn felt that the ladies were sad. His special dark lady hadn't sang to him when he woke like usual and something in her face looked wrong, like she was only pretending to smile. He longed to pet her pretty hair again, it always made her so happy when he did that.

The pink lady had dark circles under her eyes and when she put him down Finn took hold of her hand, wobbling towards the cradle so that she could take a nap with him, she looked really tired. But the pink lady only smiled sadly and swept him up into her lap again.

Finn fussed for a moment, kicking and struggling against her hold. The ladies were smiling but they felt so _sad_ and it was making him sad too, big tears beginning to splash from his eyelashes and drip onto the pink lady's skirt. She shushed him with a hug and a low murmur of "don't cry baby, its ok." Finn quieted but he was still sniffling, the ladies felt all wrong today.

"Boys, we need to tell you what's going on even if you can't understand it all yet, it's important that you know," started the dark lady, hovering a few inches above her pillow with Jake staring adoringly up at her from her arms. "We can make it a story if you like, but you have to know that this isn't like the other stories I read for you, this isn't make believe, ok?"

"Marcy, they're too young to understand. Even if you make it like a story it's a waste of time, you'll just upset them!"

The pink lady was frowning at the dark lady but Finn wanted to hear the story. He didn't always understand what they were saying because he wasn't really good with mouth noises but he knew what 'story' meant and he knew that the dark lady always made the stories come to life behind his eyes. He kicked again and his little foot connected with the pink lady's ankle, making her wince in pain and lift him up to eye level.

"That was very naughty, Finn. We don't kick anyone but bad people. Do you understand what I'm telling you?"

He pouted and looked down. He didn't like being told off and he didn't like being treated like a baby. Just because his words weren't good didn't mean he didn't like stories.

"Story." he stated stubbornly, sticking his bottom lip out in a deep sulk. "Story time."

The pink lady sighed and lowered him back to her lap.

"Fine," she conceded, "you can have your story. But it's not a very happy story. And I want you to know that I blame you entirely for his attitude, Marceline." she said over her shoulder to the dark lady. She stuck her tongue out at Finn when the pink lady looked away again, making him giggle and forget his sulk.

The dark lady smiled her big smile and showed all her funny teeth again then started the speak. Whenever she told stories he could see the pictures in the back of his head. Finn only had a loose grasp of what magic was but he knew her words were magic; nobody else made the stories come to life like she did.

"Once upon a time there were two little boys who were looked after by a queen and a princess, who loved them very much. One of the little boys stayed in the palace with his dad who loved him too, but one day his dad got a very poorly head and couldn't see the little puppy any more."

Jake had always been a little quicker on the uptake than Finn and was staring around frantically, looking for his dad.

"Da?" he inquired, lengthening his neck to peer into the corners of the room where Joshua might be hiding.

"I'm sorry darling, but you dad is poorly and he can't see you for a while." said the dark lady, stroking his back and rocking him gently. "He's staying in a special room until he gets all better again, then you can play with him, ok? And he needs to rest real quiet for a while so his head gets better."

Jake nodded sadly and slithered back down into her arms. He missed his dad and his mom and his brother, but he was beginning to realise that the last two at least didn't seem to be around to play with. And now his dad was poorly and couldn't play either.

Jake sniffled and snuggled in close to the dark lady who wrapped his blue blanket around him and rocked him gently again, humming a calming tune and tickling him with the ends of her hair. Jake laughed a little despite himself. He was glad he had the ladies and his new friend Finn, they made him feel safe when he missed home too much.

The dark lady continued, gently rocking Jake and smoothing his fur with the back of her hand. "And there were bad men who wanted to hurt the boys, so they couldn't leave the garishly decorated palace where they lived until their guardians had found the bad men and locked them all safely in the dungeon where they couldn't hurt anyone any more."

The pink lady looked annoyed when the dark lady said that, and the dark lady stuck her tongue out again. Finn giggled a little, her tongue looked so funny! Jake stretched his arm up to her face and made to grab it but she'd already flicked it back into her mouth and pressed a quick kiss against his paw instead.

"So the bad men are still out there somewhere, and the guardians are looking for them as hard as they can. The little boys need to stay in the palace and stay safe, but it means that one little boy can't see his dad for a while and that both little boys need to be extra brave. But your guardians are going to look after you and keep you safe, and we're going to find the bad men and make everything right again. Do you understand?" she finished, looking seriously at both boys in turn.

Jake nodded unhappily, the corners of his mouth turned down into a tiny frown. Finn just stared and reached out for the silky hair again; the pink lady's hair tasted better but she didn't let him chew on it and it made his face sticky.

His little mind was filled with the pictures that the dark lady's magic story had put into his head, the big Dog was in a nice sunny hospital with a bandage on his poorly head and lots of nice clown nurses looking after him. The bad men had funny moustaches and big hats and the dark lady bopped them all on the head until they fell over, the pink lady stood behind her and looked at her with happy eyes. The palace was a big explosion of rainbow colours and for some reason he was seeing it from the air, like he was flying over it the way he'd flown with the dark lady. He smiled, it wasn't a scary story at all. Finn loved it when the dark lady's stories came real behind his eyes. Just like magic.

They stayed a while longer with the boys, changing them into their pyjamas and getting them warm milk before they snuggled into bed. Finn could see Jake was sad and missed his family. Finn missed his family too but he knew deep down that they weren't going to come back.

He didn't really remember them except for the impressions of warmth and cuddles, sometimes he almost felt like he should cry out to the distant memory of a man, but he had the ladies and he had Jake, nobody could cut them up and hurt them badly because they were in a super huge special house with their own special bad men guarding the doors.

Finn smiled when the dark lady started to hum his lullaby, he'd missed her pretty tunes. Somewhere deep in his mind, in a place both too new and far too ancient for formal language, he knew that there was a word for someone who bathed him, fed him, loved him and kept him safe. He was far too small to realise what it meant but that was the night Finn knew all the way down to his toes that he had a mom again.

One day he was going to be a special bad man and bop the other bad men on the head until they fell over and he could cut up people who tried to hurt the pretty ladies. Nodding to himself he lay back in the softly blanketed cradle and listened to the velvety music while she rocked him in time to the rhythm, soft images of his dark mom travelling through a cool forest by a moonlit stream forming magically behind his eyes.

...

Once the boys were tucked into bed and had been sung to until her throat ached, Marceline backed carefully out of the nursery, tugging Bonnie's hand gently until her lover followed. She'd been staring tenderly at the sleeping babies, occasionally letting her fingers drift down to caress a soft cheek and sighing quietly as they shifted in their dreams.

Marceline had occasionally been known to use her head for more than just head butting wolves with, sometimes she even used her brain for processing actual thoughts. And she'd been thinking, thinking really hard most of the night while Bonnie tossed and muttered in her sleep beside her.

If anyone tried to take Finn away from her she'd bite their damn hands off, she didn't trust anyone else with her precious boy except for Bonnie. She'd been about to suggest that she make the formal arrangements to be his legal guardian so that no do-gooder paper pusher could use official documents and legal speak to try and separate them.

And now this had happened with Joshua and it was pretty obvious he wasn't going to get better any time soon. It would be a shame to separate the boys now that they'd grown so attached to each other and really she was growing incredibly fond of Jake too. Both boys were essentially alone, without a legal guardian.

"You know," Marceline muttered into Bonnie's ear as she gently closed the nursery door, "these guys need someone to look after them. Joshua might never recover and that would leave them both basically orphaned. I just mean, they're already used to us, you know?"

She tried to keep the hopeful look off her face but by the way Bonnie was staring at her she knew she'd been rumbled.

"Who are you and what did you do with my tough punk rock girlfriend?" she demanded, lips twitching at the corners to keep a smile at bay.

Marceline blushed and looked away, scuffing her feet against the hall carpet as she drifted, secretly glad that Bonnie hadn't reacted badly to the idea. She was a package deal with Finn now and she was almost overwhelmed with relief that Bonnie didn't seem to mind that. For all Marceline was overjoyed to be back on good terms with her lover, if Bonnie hadn't wanted them to keep Finn then that would have been a deal breaker for her.

"I just meant we could keep them around here, make sure they turn out to be awesome guys, you know? I'm still punk! I just don't think I'm too good to change a diaper, unlike some princesses I could mention."

Bonnie rolled her eyes and shoved Marcy's shoulder playfully, making her drift off course and face first into an unfortunately placed house plant. She spat leaves and grinned back at her.

"Honestly! One time I asked you to fix Finn because I had to rush off to serious princess business, and you never let me forget it!" Bonnie sighed, hands flapping in feigned annoyance.

"Admit it, Bonnibel. You're just too delicate to handle a steamy mess of baby poop. You flinch every time they drool on you and you don't even let Finn chew on your hair!" Marcy flicked the ends of her own still damp hair to accentuate her point. "I think you just don't like how messy babies are. You're really keen to hug them when they're asleep and quiet but don't think I didn't notice the face you pulled when Jake farted on you."

Bonnie's cheeks burned with embarrassment. It was really difficult to maintain an air of regal dignity when she was covered in various shades of baby slime and her dress smelled like Jake's butt. She supposed Marceline wouldn't understand that at all, dignity was a foreign country to her.

"So you think I'm not hands on enough with the boys? Well I think you're irresponsible. You fed Jake a ton of spicy beans the other day and then handed him off to me for the afternoon, of course he got gassy! And I think you did it on purpose, you devious little troll."

She sighed dramatically although her wide grin gave her away. Marceline stuck her tongue out and hung upside down in front of her girlfriend, grinning impishly. Bonnie smiled fondly then made to push past the vampire, only to find her way blocked.

"C'mon Marcy, I need to go finish up some work in the lab. I won't be long, I promise." she whined, using her best puppy dog eyes. But Marceline remained unmoved, crossing her arms across her chest and fixing her with a steely upside-down glare.

"You fell asleep in your lab right after dinner. You nearly gave me a heart attack, metaphorically, when I couldn't find you, not to mention Joshua trying to take my head off with that damned blood sword. You barely slept last night and when you did you had nightmares, don't try to deny it because I was there soothing you through them. You're more nocturnal than I am right now. Well tonight you're going to get an early night and I am going to make sure you get some rest, no argument. Ok?"

She cocked her head to the side, silently daring Bonnie to argue with her. For one moment they glared at each other, green eyes sparkling and pink eyes narrowed in challenge. But it was too much effort to resist, an early night did sound pretty wonderful. She knew at some point they'd need to have a serious talk about how they'd look after the boys, once the current threat was over. But for now it was enough to just be keeping them alive and safe.

"Ok fine, just because you ask _so politely_. Tomorrow I'm up with the sun and catching up on work though. But it's not even nine yet, isn't it a bit early even for an early night?" Bonnie queried, raising an eyebrow at Marceline as she drifted back the right way up.

"Yeah," she grinned, pulling Bonnie forwards into her arms and running one pale finger along the nape of her neck, making her shiver at the unexpected contact. She was still a little woozy from the blow to her head earlier and the sudden change in mood was making her breathe heavily, pulse suddenly spiking erratically under her skin. She felt a little dizzy, almost punch drunk.

"If we were going straight to sleep, it would totally be too early. But I have a plan to make absolutely sure you're all the way relaxed before bed."

Soft pink lips met cool grey ones in reply and they drifted together into the bedroom, tension already beginning to flow out of Bonnie's shoulders as her lover worked another kind of magic entirely.

...

High windows had so often been the downfall of her targets; even those that could fly like the vampire bitch forgot to check the top corners where anyone with basic climbing skills could observe to their heart's content.

Ja'an peered into the room with fascination, watching her target without blinking. She had time and she had plans, her two favourite things on a mission. And now she had the opportunity to observe the most scandalous display from her upper window hideout.

With claws sunk soundlessly into the palace wall she stared through the glass and into the bedroom beyond. It was flooded with moonlight, to her demon eyes it was as brightly lit as if it were high noon. Two pale bodies were pressed close together in the middle of a large bed, Ja'an supposed it must be a new one since The General had managed to do nothing but conquer the furniture on his failed raid.

Ja'an made no secret of her hatred of Abadeer Junior but she had to admit that disrobed in the moonlight she made for some pretty magnificent eye candy, all long slim limbs and swirling inky hair, toned curves and smooth skin. Ja'an flicked her tail angrily, how she longed to make that pretty face twist in pain. _Nobody makes me feel things then rejects a perfectly good sacrifice. Nobody makes me hurt like that and gets away with it._

It took all of Ja'an's discipline to keep from purring deeply at the thought of hurting the beautiful vampire. The princess was clearly no slouch either, she was playing Abadeer like a violin; perhaps Ralquinn would let her have a quick turn when he was taking a break from torturing her to fix a fresh shirt.

Ja'an was busy remembering Ralquinn's wicked claws, she felt a weird stab of pity that neither of the soft idiots before her would ever experience that kind of awful thrashing pleasure. Well, maybe the vampire would if Ja'an had her way. With enough time she was certain she could bring Lady Abadeer round to her way of thinking; she was half demon after all and she couldn't ignore her instincts forever.

The fresh scars that now ran the length of Ja'an's back ached in remembrance of Ralquinn's torturous affections and her claws pulsed rhythmically as she fantasized about giving the vampire the same treatment.

Still, she had to grudgingly admire the sheer athleticism they were putting into their coupling. She'd been watching on and off for almost a half hour now and they'd not even noticed when she'd climbed silently to the roof, too caught up in each other. It was lucky they'd picked such a big room; any closer and the vampire would have been able to feel the way Ja'an's heart thudded against her ribs while she watched them.

Perhaps she'd been a little too hasty to write off the other demon as entirely soft; seemingly lost a her moment of passion she had sheathed her fangs deeply in the other woman's soft pink shoulder. Ja'an approved, it would only take a little extra clamp of jaws to sever the princess's subclavian artery and bleed her to death all over her lovely pink sheets.

But to her thorough disappointment the vampire unhooked her fangs after a moment; lapping apologetically at the wounds and as her lover quivered and stretch out into her arms luxuriantly. And she'd gasped out for consent before she'd bitten the other woman, it made no sense at all to Ja'an.

She rolled her eyes as they stroked and kissed through the quiet moments, repressing the urge to growl in annoyance at every declaration of love and silly silvery giggle. The princess lay back with a soft smile on her glistening lips as her vampire slid across the bed towards her, trailing ridiculously light kisses as she went. Ja'an repressed a snort. This was what the great hopes of Hunson had been reduced to? It was perverse how gentle she was being, she'd never been at all gentle with anyone in the Nightosphere.

Ja'an looked away as the princess tangled her long fingers into Abadeer's hair; something inside her didn't want to see what she knew was about to happen. It made her uncomfortable in her own skin to witness it and Ja'an did not like feeling uncomfortable.

And oh yes, there she went, kissing hungrily down from throat to chest to hips to- no, she was not watching the way the princess arched her back like that, or the way her pink fist tightened in that glorious silky mane. Finally Ja'an wrenched her eyes away. Nothing else could be learned from watching them more tonight and she couldn't contain her anger if she was forced to stay and observe until their activities reached their obvious conclusion. She felt weird, angry and restless for having to witness their intimacy. Someone would pay for that.

With a barely audible hiss she abandoned her plans for kidnap that night and leapt silently away from the window, shimmying down to the ground and slinking off to her meeting spot with Ralquinn. She needed some rough agony after seeing that display, her cheeks burned and she felt her pulse strangely all over her body. Her hatred of Abadeer seethed in her; _how dare_ that undead bitch make her feel this way? She snarled and ripped her claws into the flesh of her arms, shuddering at the release of tension she hadn't even known she'd been carrying. It _hurt_ and Ja'an did not like to hurt unless it was on Ral's sharp nails and teeth. She made others hurt, not the other way around.

It was obscene, the way they touched each other reverently and smiled into each other's eyes. It made her skin crawl and ache for pain. At least Ralquinn could be depended upon to oblige her. She slid off into the shadows, head spinning with confused thoughts and arms a red mess from her claws.


	14. Chapter 14

**Update time! This is a long chapter and it was a beast to write and edit. And there is Major Backstory that is definitely not going to be cannon compliant, as well as more OCs. Again, sorry for them but there wasn't really many options that fit the plot of the story/major alternate reality arc that I'm probably extending after this story is done. Anyway, enjoy, and as always please review, it makes me so happy that people enjoy my stories. *Sends you all love***

 **Content Warning: implied nudity, much swearing, non cannon backstory, repeated historical death/murder, multiple feels.**

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The next morning a soft rhythmic purr slowly brought Bonnie awake from a wonderfully deep sleep, followed by a gentle tap on the side of her face. She opened her eyes and blinked in confusion at the two tiny kittens that had somehow appeared on her bed during the night.

They were around the size of her palm and still young enough that they walked with a funny jerky gait, their tails whipping out to help keep balance. She'd seen a seismic shift in the way Marceline had behaved recently and it was wonderful, but she'd not expected to be surprised with kittens for no reason at all. Shifting over and freeing her arms from under the sheets she stroked their velvety fur and cooed quiet greetings to them.

"Hello there darlings. Did Marcy bring you? She really is such a closet sweetie. Oh you two are so cute!"

They purred harder and came to investigate her face, snuffling around her mouth and mewling in tiny voices.

The noise of splashing and low singing from the bathroom told her that her vampire was hogging the shower, knowing how she felt about indulging her weird fetish for Bonnie's en-suite she could be in there for hours. One kitten looked up at her with huge green eyes and squeaked adorably, pawing at the sheets and snuggling into Bonnie's chest when she gathered her up into a hug.

It was a solid little thing, all bunched muscle and flecked creamy white fur with fluffy ear tips; its companion was a sleek red with startling blue eyes and a lithe little body. They were surprisingly affectionate, purring and rubbing up against her. The red kitten kept trying to burrow under the sheets, bopping its head against her chest and humming like an old engine. The feel of soft fur on her bare skin made Bonnie giggle; she wasn't ticklish as a rule but it was sweet that they liked her so much. Marcy had really outdone herself this time, she thought.

"Are you cold, little cuties?" she cooed, wrapping them into the rumpled bed sheets on Marceline's side. The little cats both had icy feet and noses, she supposed they must have been exploring the cold tiled floor while she slept. They mewled at her and stared with big sad eyes. Just then the shower shut off and she heard Marceline's voice drop to a low hum from whatever tune she'd been entertaining herself with.

"Did I ever tell you you're amazing?" she called through the closed door. Marcy's humming stopped.

"Huh?"

"You're amazing! Thank you so much, they're gorgeous!"

Bonnie slipped out of bed and padded across to the bathroom door, opening it and blinking the steam out of her eyes. Marcy was hovering in a towel, wet hair streaming down her back and face wrinkled in confusion.

"Yeah, I know I'm amazing. But is there any particular reason you're awake and telling me so at this time of the morning? I was going to nap for a while before you went down to breakfast, I didn't think you'd be up for hours yet." Marceline replied, shrugging in confused acceptance as her girlfriend wrapped her into an affectionate hug. Bonnie just grinned at her and placed a kiss onto her shoulder, wrinkling her nose at the feel of it.

"Eugh, your skin is so warm from the shower, it's weird. But seriously, thank you. I know you're not fond of animals as a rule. Do they have names yet?" Bonnie asked, eyes sparkling. Marceline's face contracted further, looking seriously confused and not a little worried.

"Babe, what? I didn't get you any animals. I hate them, unless they're undead and don't require feeding or walking and don't shed on my clothes. Did you find some random animals in your bed?" she queried, brows pushed together in bewilderment. Bonnie just nodded and gestured towards the bedroom, staying nervously behind Marcy as she hovered threateningly towards the door.

"You didn't buy me two kittens?" she asked, letting the confusion seep into her voice. Marceline just shook her head no, pushing the princess further behind her and letting her hands curl into fists.

Bonnie was uncomfortably aware of being mostly naked, after last night she'd not felt like wearing much of anything to bed and had just grabbed her panties from the floor before snuggling up in her lover's arms. Marceline stopped dead in the doorway and Bonnie walked into her back, peering around her to where the two kittens were looking up guiltily from the bed. The vampire stared at them for a moment, mouth hanging halfway open in absolute shock.

"...How? But- you two- no. No! GET OUT! NOW! HOW ARE YOU EVEN HERE?" Marcy yelled, pointing at the door, hair whipping angrily around her. The two cats slunk to the floor, ears flat against their skulls and disappeared around the slightly open bedroom door into the hall. They shot her twin baleful looks as they went, tails twitching unhappily.

"Um, what was that?" Bonnie asked, trying to steal a little of Marceline's towel to cover herself with. The vampire turned to her, avoiding her eyes and nibbling her bottom lip guiltily.

"Ok, honey please don't be mad at me, I have literally no idea why they're here. Seriously." Marcy mumbled into her towel, fidgeting guiltily with her hands. Bonnie just stared at her, confusion giving way to annoyance. She hated being left in the dark and she was in no mood to play Marceline's games, her patience was thin in the mornings at the best of times.

The vampire sighed and fixed her eyes on her feet, head hanging forward and hiding her from view with a curtain of damp hair. Bonnie couldn't make out exactly what she was saying.

"Dunno why they... not in years... swear I don't even know why they'd... don't be mad."

"Excuse me?" Bonnie interjected sharply. "Look at me when you're speaking please, I want to know what the fuck is going on."

Marceline slowly lifted her head and fixed her eyes on a spot just to the left of Bonnie's face. She sighed heavily and then spoke more clearly.

"Like I said, don't be mad at me. I have absolute no idea what they're doing here and I haven't seen them in about four hundred years. I really thought they were dead. They're kinda... old friends. Who have apparently decided to drop by uninvited."

"You have old friends who are adorable kittens?" Bonnie asked in a tone dripping with sarcasm.

"No-o, not exactly. I have old friends who are vampires and can assume for the form of adorable kittens if they decided to sneak into our bedroom and surprise us. Surprise?" she finished hopefully.

All across the palace staff were woken by the terrible screech of an enraged princess, smiled to themselves and rolled back over. Bubblegum screaming furiously at her girlfriend was business as usual. If any of them had been in the hallway outside the half open bedroom door they would have seen a small grey kitten fleeing in terror with her tail fluffed out and pointed ears flattened, gleefully pursued by one white and one red kitten, followed by a bedroom door slamming heavily shut.

...

"You guys are dead meat," Marceline fumed at the two women floating lazy circles around her head. They just grinned at her and flicked their forked tongues out. Marcy had a sudden revelation about why Bonnie found that so damn infuriating when she did that. The petite redhead, Matilda, draped herself across her shoulders and breathed a steady stream of cold air into her ear, icy blue eyes alive with mischief.

"You called, we came. What did you expect would happen? You're alive! I always told Zoe you were! And we always knew you'd send for us, eventually! See how loyal we are? We should be rewarded."

Marceline didn't bother replying, it was a waste of breath. They point blank refused to accept that she'd not written them a letter begging for their help; she had no idea who even knew about them let alone who could forge a convincing letter from her and deliver it to the girls. But when she got her hands on whoever had sent it she would shred them so finely they'd need to be buried in a matchbox.

She hadn't even known they'd survived the final assault on her stronghold, hadn't known they were still out there or she'd have come looking for them centuries ago. But they'd just accepted that she'd left and not come back for them, among all the other guilts and anxieties squirming around in her belly now Marceline also felt terrible for never thinking to go and see if they were still alive.

A knock sounded on the door of the disused suite they'd been hiding out in and Billy's worried voice floated through the wood.

"Queen Marceline? Er, the princess respectfully requests your presence with your guests in the throne room. She says she needs to talk to you in your, uh, formal role as the Queen of Vampires."

He stuttered his message out in a nervous rush. Marcy felt for him, it was hard being caught between two feuding women and Billy had never managed to hold down a stable relationship for long, he was very far out of his comfort zone when dealing with angry females.

"We'll be right out, give us a minute, Billy." she sighed in return, then turned back to the two vampires behind her. They'd gotten bored when her attention wasn't fixed on them and begun looping around each other in mid air, giggling and nuzzling into each other.

"Guys, cut it out. You're coming with me and you're going to keep your mouths shut and be on your best indoor behaviour, right?" she snarled, pulling them bodily apart and slapping their hands away when they tried to reach around her.

"Fine." sighed Zoe, the heavier blonde. Her light green eyes shot a resigned glance out of her pale heart-shaped face. "We'll be good. We're just... so happy to see you. We thought maybe you'd died. No need to get your pretty red panties in a twist with us."

She rolled her eyes at a shocked look from Marceline.

"Oh please, as if you'd change the habits of centuries and wear something you couldn't eat in a pinch. Besides, it brings out your lovely grey skin."

Zoe winked and received a hiss of disapproval in return. Peppermint Butler had been kind enough to retrieve something more dignified than a damp towel for Marceline to wear and yeah of course the panties were red, all her underwear was red. Unless it was briefly grey, before it went in the trash. She had an uncomfortable epiphany; Zoe and Matilda knew that. Because they knew _her_ , because for a long time there was nobody closer to her. And it was good to see them again, wonderful to know she could stop counting them in the list of dead comrades in arms that she recited to herself from memory before she went to bed every morning.

"Look, I'm not unhappy to see you. I just got a shock. I didn't know you were alive, either. And now you're here and... with everything else that's going on, it's just a lot to take in, yeah?" Marceline mumbled. She pressed her palms to her temples for a moment, vainly trying to head off the stress headache building behind her eyes.

"Well shit, you've gone soft." Matilda teased, flipping upside down and sticking her tongue out. Typical Tilda; when things got too serious she deflected, hid from the realities of it by playing the fool. Marceline supposed she knew the girls every bit as well as they knew her.

"Just shut up and follow me." Marceline growled, stalking towards the door. She was too shocked to fly right now and she wanted the satisfying slap of solid ground under her angry feet.

As she walked she could feel them grinning at the back of her head infuriatingly. Billy fell into step at her side as she headed into the corridor, thoughtfully blocking out the sunlight streaming through the windows they passed. He sensibly said nothing about her companions, keeping his head straight up and gaze forward even when Matilda began to play with his long greying hair.

By the time they reached the throne room Billy's head was covered in intricately woven braids, Marceline had to bite back a guilty laugh even as she shot them a furious glance. The girls just smirked and Matilda mimed zipping her mouth closed; true to their promise they'd not said a word.

She usually thought it was kind of cute how Bonnie always fell back into highly formal language when they were in the throne room but now she was cringing at the thought of having to speak like a fine lady from some cheesy pre war fantasy novel. She had no time to even dread it properly; Billy pushed the great doors open with one hand and marched forward, sweeping into a bow at the bottom of Bonnie's throne.

"Your Royal Highness, may I present to you, Her Highness Lady Evil Marceline Abadeer the Vampire Queen, and guests." he announced in the formal language.

This was serious; Bonnibel had her highly official State Business robes on and everything, she was even holding her pink and white striped candy sceptre. Marceline swallowed her panic and followed Billy, bending into a grudging bow herself and trying not to feel intensely stupid.

Marceline could count on one hand how many times she'd had to bow to her own girlfriend in the formal manner of visiting royalty being received in a foreign kingdom. Once when she'd formally requested sanctuary, fleeing her past after her Kingdom had completely crumbled to dust and once more to apologise for a particularly nasty argument, to prove a point that she really did respect Bonnie as a monarch even if she didn't always show it. Twice she'd bowed here in nearly four hundred years that they'd known each other; it was humiliating that the girls had forced her to do it a third time.

Noticing from the corner of her eye that they remained upright she hissed at the other two vampires and shoved them both down into a clumsy approximation of a bow. She held them until Bonnie cleared her throat and commanded them to rise. All four bobbed upright, Billy retreating silently to the corner of the room.

"You had better have a _fucking good_ explanation for this, Marceline Abadeer." Bonnie growled in a voice so wintry it could have frozen the blood in Marcy's already chill veins.

 _Shit shit shit she's not even using the formal language, I don't think she's ever been so angry before._

Marcy's eyes flicked nervously around the room looking for anything that might aid her escape if she needed to make a quick exit. She made the mistake of looking Bonnie full in the face.

Bonnie's eyes flashed dangerously and her mouth was forced into the thinnest of savage lines, radiating fury like a tsunami. Marceline just stared back at her, uncomfortably aware of how under other circumstances she could quite enjoy the massive difference in their respective power levels. She shook herself out of her daze and cleared her throat nervously.

"Well they uhh, they seem to think I wrote them a letter asking them to come and help me, saying that I'd fill them in on all the details when they got here. I swear I've not seen them in centuries and I had no idea they were even still alive until today."

It was the gospel truth, she was still beyond mind blown to discover they'd followed her last instructions to wait, they hadn't come to find her in the four hundred years that had past since she'd left them behind. Bonnie just raised her damned eyebrow and crossed her arms. Evidently she did not consider that to be a good explanation.

"And did you?" she asked in a flat voice. Marceline's brow furrowed.

"Did I what?" she asked, confused.

"Did you write a letter and invite dangerous strangers into our bedroom without so much as consulting me?" Bonnie all but snarled her reply. Marceline stared again, horrified that she could think such a thing.

"No! Of course not! You think I want the very worst things from my past like these two morons around my boys? Or you? They're the last thing I ever wanted to see again!" The girls shot her matching filthy looks but she just ignored them.

Bonnie was still staring at her with her cold blooded murder in her eyes. Marceline had always known that one day her past might catch up and now she had a lot to explain, she wished she could just talk to Bonnie in private without anyone listening and without the pressure of the formal protocols, which admittedly Bonnie was completely ignoring.

Marceline was beginning to grow frustrated and angry too, fighting the instinct to let her features morph to match her mood. She allowed her fangs to lengthen as much as she dared and let the fur that wanted to sprout burst out across her back where it was safely hidden by her shirt. Losing control in front of Bonnie right now would not do her any favours. Bonnie opened her mouth to reply, then closed it again thoughtfully.

"Marceline, who are these two creeps anyway? You said earlier that they were old friends. Tell me about your friendship."

The girls looked amused rather than offended at being called creeps, smiling warmly to each other across Marcy's back. Marceline swallowed nervously again, this was exactly what she'd hoped to avoid. She twiddled her fingers anxiously and the tips of her hair flickered in distress.

"Well," she began with a deep breath, "they're sort of my um- Royal Guard. From when there were enough vampires for me to rule that I actually required one. The quick version is I got sick of them trailing me like lost puppies about four hundred years ago when I lost my Kingdom and I told them to keep away until I contacted them. And then they turned up again today, and they're not lying about thinking they received a letter from me even though I didn't send a letter. Trust me, I'd know if they were."

In the silence that followed her little speech she realised her huge mistake and cursed herself for a fool when she saw Bonnie's face contract in thought. Marceline knew what was coming next and she dug her nails into her palms. She was frozen in terror, screaming at herself inside her own head. _I am literally the stupidest person to ever walk the face of the Earth. Why? Why would I ever say that?_

"How?" Bonnie asked after a moment, glancing between them. "And don't try to gloss it over as 'just a vampire thing' because I am so done with you using that excuse every time you don't feel like talking about your past."

Marceline stared down at her feet, shame and panic flooding her stomach. She'd used that excuse so many times, it was so much easier than explaining things that were hard for her to talk about.

She swallowed compulsively. What was that cryptic thing Bonnie had mumbled to her the night they'd made up? Confession was good for the soul.

"Because I was the one who Turned them." she admitted in a small voice. "Because I'm their Sire and they literally can't lie to me. It's like trying to lie to your parents when you're a little kid, just can't be done."

The silence stretched on for what felt like centuries, until Marceline worked up the courage to look up and see how her news had been received. She drifted back, startled; Bonnie had gotten up and walked right down to her on silent feet, she must have been so caught up in recollection she hadn't noticed the princess approach. The look on her face was unexpectedly soft and tender and she had her arms out to offer comfort. Without a moment's hesitation Marceline drifted forward into the embrace, hiccuping back a strangled distressed noise that threatened to escape her iron control. Finally her last darkest secret was out, and Bonnie hadn't tried to decapitate or otherwise mercy kill her.

"Why didn't you tell me? Did you think I'd hate you for Turning someone?" Bonnie whispered into her ear. Marceline just nodded, not trusting herself to speak just yet. "So they're like, your vampire family?"

"Sort of."

The words came out croaky and weird but after the emotional roller coaster the day had been so far she really couldn't find it in herself to care. She rested her head heavily on Bonnie's shoulder and allowed herself to breath slowly, comfortingly, while she fought for control over herself.

Behind them the girls smiled at each other and laughed silently even as Billy discreetly ushered them out of the doors, but the embracing couple either didn't see or didn't care.

...

After the tears were ruthlessly repressed and the Vampire Guards ordered to go back to their empty suite and entertain themselves for a few hours Bonnie had lead a shell-shocked Marceline back to their private rooms. She was feeling deeply guilty over her treatment of the vampire, poor Marcy hadn't really slept yet and it must have been a terrible shock for her to have those two sprung on her without warning, then to have so much fear over Bonnie's reaction.

Her stomach twisted itself in knots of shame when she remembered how she'd screamed at her lover. She'd promised herself that this time she was going to keep a level head and not allow them to fall back into the same old patterns, because deep down she knew it wasn't exclusively Marceline's fault when they rowed. But she'd completely flipped when she realized two random strangers had been watching her wander around in just her underwear.

Still it was no excuse for flinging the first thing she could find at her girlfriend's head, even if it had just been an extra bouncy pillow. Then pulling rank and marching them into the throne room like naughty children; her cheeks burned with guilt at the obnoxious way she'd behaved.

Now they were reclined on the bed together, Marcy's inky black hair settled around them both like a shroud; just being close and feeling the comfort of each other. This wasn't how they usually made up after fights either but it had seemed crass to resolve it in their usual physical manner. Bonnie hadn't said a word since they'd gotten to the room, just rubbed small comforting circles across Marceline's back and held her close. Eventually her vampire stirred and looked up at her with red rimmed eyes.

"I wanted to tell you." she started in a small voice. "I wanted to tell you so badly for so long. But I was scared you'd realise I was just as bad a monster as all the others, I was scared you'd reject me."

Bonnie planted a kiss on the top of her head, murmuring reassuringly into her hair.

"Marcy, I love you. Its ok, I forgive you for keeping secrets. It's normal, we've both lived a really long time and we're not the only things that ever happened in each other's lives." She paused for an indication that her lover understood, Marceline nodded and held her tighter. "So if you still want to tell me then you can. You never need to be scared of your past, ok? You are not a monster, you never were."

The silence stretched on for several long minutes before Marceline took a deep breath and began to talk, her soft voice slipping into the long practised story rhythm. Images flashed in the back of Bonnie's mind as she spoke, courtesy of Marceline's latent magic.

"Way back when I was first bitten it was all different. You know the world was a much more dangerous place back then and it wasn't easy even for a half demon to get by. I'd lost Simon to the crown a few years before and then my dad decided his first set of plans for me weren't relevant since there basically wasn't a human world for him to use me as a puppet ruler over any more. He took himself off to the Nightosphere and I refused to go, I was mad at him for treating me like I was his property. I guess he still does that. So I was alone and wandering the ruins of the old cities looking for food. It's ironic that being half demon protected me from the radiation of the mushroom bombs; when it killed everyone else indiscriminately I could walk right into the blast crater and not even get a headache.

"I was already a pretty controversial figure in vampire society, I had different powers, I looked different. It made them nervous. And even then the Vampire Kingdom was starting to implode. Before the war they'd had it easy; plenty of stupid humans walking around blissfully unaware of our existence right until we drained them dry and tossed them away like empty soda cans. Now the human population was tiny and scattered; vampires had to adapt for their meals. A lot of them tried drinking animal blood. It's useful for survival but I wouldn't recommend it, the flavour is awful and it can have some weird side effects. Some of them tried drinking each other, they went nuts and died out pretty quickly. It's hard to keep yourself from burning up in the sunlight when you're out of your mind on a vamp blood trip. Our own blood is wicked hallucinogenic and also pretty damn addictive to our own kind. A few chose to be the vampires of legend, the hunters that stole children in the night and drained whole villages in their thirst.

"I was one of the legendary ones. I'm disgusted with myself when I think about it now, but at the time I didn't know any better. I must have killed hundreds of people in the space of a few years; I was one of the most successful and most feared. The humans called me Pale Death, you have to admit it was a pretty badass title compared to the ones I go by now. Anyway one night I was roaming the centre of a particularly badly hit town. I don't even know why I went there, it was deserted and practically humming with radiation. It must have been about a hundred years after my bite so I'd not even really had much to do with the established society and I was still pretty new to the whole vampire gig compared to some of the old-timers kicking around, I'd spent a lot of that time in the Nightosphere anyway.

"I was hungry and still quite angry at the world in general. I saw a fire up ahead and I remember thinking, finally here comes dinner! Nobody but humans would be so damn stupid to light a fire in the middle of an abandoned town full of radioactive vampires. I swept out of the shadows and made to grab one of the two by the fire when she saw me and began to laugh. It wasn't what I was used to my meals doing so I stopped and stared at them. It was pretty obvious after a minute that they were both almost dead from the radiation and the blonde, Zoe, was hallucinating; she thought I was an angel come to take them to the next world. The redhead, that's Tilda, she didn't talk much, she could barely stay sitting upright.

"I guess I had something of a complex back then. It was thrilling to have these two lives in the palm of my hand, mine to do what I wanted with. It didn't hurt that they were both young and pretty and staring at me like I was the most magnificent creature they'd ever laid eyes on. I guess I probably was, I mean they looked pretty ragged compared to me. And I don't know why I did it, I asked them if they wanted to be angels like me and they said yes. I just did it. I drained them both then let my venom into the wounds. I was lonely and they seemed like decent eye candy, I justified it to myself by telling myself I was saving their lives the only way I could. Glob but they tasted bad, their blood was pretty much just mutated slime from all the radiation and junk they'd absorbed. Humans back then were a special kind of stupid, just another reason why there aren't many left now.

"The thing is, I didn't know what I was doing. My Sire hadn't lived so long after he bit me and I'd started as an outcast from mainstream vampire circles; I didn't know anything about the kind of link I was creating. I still don't know everything about it. They can sense where I am and what I'm doing if we're close by, I can sense the same if I focus. We can talk telepathically with enough concentration if we're in the same general area and they can't lie to me, I can see their auras as clearly as if they were stamped onto their faces.

"For a few centuries we were an inseparable gang, but they'd been pretty seriously involved before I'd Turned them and I was lonely and kinda jealous. They loved each other more than I could understand, they needed me but it wasn't the same thing at all. And they stayed in the first throes of new love, because that's how they'd been when I Turned them. They've never left the first exciting months of being in love, they can't physically stop feeling like everything is new and amazing between them. I still envy that. But it was so much worse then because I was so alone even when the three of us were together. I wanted someone to look at me the way Tilda looks at Zoe. Like she's magic.

"Anyway by the time I was strong enough and had enough ambition to take out the old crazy Vampire King and assume his place our society was on a fast track to nowhere. One of the reasons there are so few vampires around now is that a new vampire needs to have enough pure human in their bloodline to be Turned, if I tried to Turn you it would kill us both because you're not even close to human, you're like a sixteenth human, maybe less. We had no way of procreating and we were running out of food. I was a brand new queen with a ton to prove and almost every single one of my subjects half-crazy from hunger and vamp blood addiction and trying to kill me. I had to make some really tough decisions.

"We discovered that with enough practice a vampire could learn to drink the red from blood without killing the victim, it cut down the number of human deaths but it was difficult to get most of my subjects to even try it. After that it took a lot of effort to drink red from other organisms, plants and animals. Eventually I could drink red from more or less anything. The girls had served me faithfully for centuries and they were enthusiastic to learn the new drinking skills but not everyone was so keen. The ones who either refused or couldn't manage to drink anything but human blood I had to put down, it was my duty as their queen to ensure the survival of our species. I killed so many, executed some and waged pitched battles against others. It was a violent and increasingly pointless civil war and it was my fault; a lot of people died because of me and my stupid oath to protect the humans. It didn't matter anyway. In the end the humans became too mutated and we lost our primary food source as well as our only means of replicating ourselves.

"The more neutral vampires began to drift away in search of new food and by the end of it I was queen of nothing but a cold throne and those two loyal but super annoying girls. There was a battle, the last battle, and I ran. I kept going north and north some more and across a large body of water and north again until I found you here surrounded by little candy people. It seemed so relaxing and peaceful, I wanted that for myself. But my subjects were crazy monsters who lived for murder and bloodlust and I was ashamed to tell you what I really was. I've never been like them; being born half demon means I've been living with the darkness in myself for my whole life, it can't control me because it grew with me.

"Anyone not firmly on one side of the civil war had already gone by that point. I even lost my crown, someone stole it while I slept and probably traded it for a quick meal. It was badass too, pretty similar to yours but the spike wasn't as high and it was silver with this lovely deep red gem in the middle. But that was long gone and so were my subjects. Even the sane ones had left for someplace new, it was pretty obvious their queen had failed them spectacularly although in truth I only really inherited the problems of the Mushroom War fallout from the old king.

"There were still some who wanted to kill me though, no matter that the whole reason for the vampire war had been the protection of humans and there were hardly any left to protect. But there was a small number of my closest friends left, hiding out in the place we'd tried to make a capital city when there had been more vampires. They stayed to hold the rebels off and I escaped, I came across a sea and a desert and through all kinds of weird landscape and I found you here and you know the rest. I lost everyone I'd cared about that night, for the second time in my life. I don't know who else survived. If Matilda and Zoe are still alive then maybe others are out there somewhere. I gave up killing because I can't stand it any more, it reminds me of all the innocents I've murdered over the years and all the friends I've killed with my terrible leadership. Back in the beginning I'd have drank every drop of Finn's blood and laughed at his screams of terror. I sicken myself with what I used to be and I would have rather cut my own head off than have to tell you any of it but I didn't have a choice because the girls turned up and you deserve an explanation for it all."

Marceline hadn't moved during the long story, lying still as a statue in Bonnie's arms and talking in a low calm voice. Her shoulders were tight with repressed emotion, hands clenched in her lap and knuckles even whiter than usual. Bonnie didn't know what to say, she just continued to smooth her hands across Marcy's back and gently kiss her forehead. The magical images of the story danced behind her eyes; two ragged girls leaning up together in front of a junk fire in the shell of a building, Marceline's dark shadow falling across the terrified face of a boy barely old enough to shave, merciless grey hands ripping the head off a gaunt looking vampire in a silver crown. And the vampire war, those images were too awful for her to process. Marceline battling wave after wave of enraged vampires, watching helplessly as the people she loved were cut down in front of her, a smallish rabbity faced girl screaming for her to run, run and they'd follow as soon as the rebels had been forced back. But they'd never followed; they'd either died or abandoned her and she'd carried on alone, terrified, consumed by guilt. But Bonnie couldn't blame her for any of it. Like she said, she'd never known any better.

They lay like that for a long time before a soft sensation of dampness against Bonnie's shoulder told her Marceline had finally broken her last taboo and let herself cry about her past.


	15. Chapter 15

**A new chapter! And a new one shot to follow, because I love you all so very much** ❤

 **The end is in sight! This chapter kicks off the next round of action that leads up to the end point of this story and then I'm going to start posting the sequel, which I've tentatively named Continuum. So watch this space, I'm going to try to post regularly over the next few weeks until the story is done.**

 **Content Warning: Plot, so much plot. Skeletons, vampire politics, burned remains. Hopefully nothing too triggering but that's definitely coming up in the next couple of chapters.**

* * *

Olgar stopped dead in the doorway of the dining hall and the rest of the Guard thudded into his broad back with grunts of annoyance. He blinked and rubbed his eyes thoroughly, but there were still three beautiful pale women floating around in the air instead of the one he'd become accustomed to. Queen Marceline had been joined by a softly curved blonde with eyes like freshly crushed mint and a petite redhead with the look of a wild forest spirit in her mischievous smile and the light spattering of freckles across her upturned nose.

"Breathe, Olgar. They're deliberately mesmerizing, it's a vampire hunting tactic." Eagle whispered into his ear, shoving him in the small of the back and forcing him forward. She sighed and rolled her eyes skywards. "Glob save us from stupid men. Just try not to drool into your beard."

The Guard seated themselves and the chatter resumed around them. Olgar couldn't take his eyes off the three women at the top of the table. The blonde reached over to the redhead and stroked carefully along the nape of her neck, making her eyes flutter shut in pleasure. Marceline sighed and smacked the blonde on the end of the nose, making her withdraw her caress and pout with pale lips. Olgar lifted a chunk of bread to his mouth, missed, and poked himself in the eye with it instead. Cursing he wiped tears and crumbs from his face, blushing heavily. He stared at his food and tried to concentrate on his meal instead of the three stunning women talking and laughing together in low voices.

It seemed the Vampire Queen, while reserved with her guests, was not genuinely unhappy to see them. As his eyes slid back to where they hovered together she laughed at something the redhead whispered slyly into her ear, slinging long arms around her petite neck and hugging her tightly. Princess Bubblegum was smiling dreamily at the women too, pushing her food absently around her plate with a dazed expression on her face. Olgar sighed and pushed his own plate to one side, he had no appetite and it was so much easier to just give in to staring.

His sigh caught Marceline's attention; she looked around with a frown and the rest of the table. Every single pair of eyes was fixed on her and her companions; she shifted nervously under their gaze.

"Tilda," he heard her mutter, "Cut it out. You're distracting everyone from dinner. Dial it down a bit."

The redhead pouted at her for a moment then all three women seemed to grow somehow... duller. Olgar shook his head in confusion as his mind cleared, his stomach was rumbling and he pulled his plate back to himself and began shovelling baked chicken into his big mouth with gusto. He had no idea why he'd been staring at the three anaemic looking vampires but it made him feel twitchy and nervous. Marceline was alright but the other two had yet to prove themselves.

After the meal was finished Bubblegum invited them all to her personal drawing room to become better acquainted with the new arrivals and plan strategy. They'd not achieved a lot in any strategy meetings until then but he was still hopeful they'd have a breakthrough; being holed up in the palace and no further forward on who was hunting the little princes was frustrating.

Olgar took his seat in the comfy overstuffed armchair he was offered and felt himself relax despite his misgivings. It was impossible to feel too nervous when he was surrounded by allies and kept in the highest degree of hospitality by such a noble hostess. Still, the small cluster of vampires in the corner made him uneasy. He'd been first on the scene on one of the increasingly rare vampire attacks on mutant semi-humans as a much younger man and what he'd seen would stay with him forever; corpses sucked dry and the ash pile remains of one unlucky bloodsucker that they'd managed to stake. They'd never found the vampires responsible but rumours eventually reached his ears that the Vampire Queen had 'taken care' of the situation, he could very well believe it now that he'd met her. Marceline's friends didn't seem like the murderous type but he'd reserve judgement until he got to know them a little better.

Bubblegum cleared her throat and the murmur of conversation stopped, all eyes swivelling towards her.

"So as you know we have some unexpected allies in the palace now. Their names are Matilda Kincorth and Zoe Whitecairns and they are Marceline's official Royal Vampire Guard, they're here to keep her safe and by extension here to keep the whole palace safe. So please show them the same courtesy you would to any other ally. I'd be lying if I said that there was no tension surrounding the vampire issue but you all know and trust Marceline and her Royal Guard are bound to follow her to the letter. That includes drinking the colour red instead of blood and aligning Good for as long as they are here."

Marceline was shooting her a murderous glare from the undead corner of the room, clearly she resented the idea that anyone could think she really needed a guard to keep her safe. Olgar privately agreed; she'd more than proved herself capable. But two more pairs of eyes on the little princes were no bad thing, especially if they were as adept in battle as their queen. The princess just smiled sweetly at her lover and ceded the floor to Eagle who shifted with uncharacteristic nerves at being the centre of attention.

"Last night I spoke to Joshua in his cell. It wasn't much of a conversation; he mistook me for his dead wife and laid out all the details of Marceline's devious plot to somehow consume the power of the two helpless babies she has helped rescue and foster. Needless to say he's not making much sense."

Eagle waited for the ripple of confusion to die down before she continued.

"He also made mention of taking the babes to see someone called His Dark Majesty. I know I've heard the name before but I can't place it and I have spent the whole night and day researching in her Ladyship's extensive library but I've found no reference to who this Majesty is."

"Eagle! You promised to get some rest! I can't be there to take care of you all the time, woman. You should have-" Olgar blustered into silence at a swift gesture from his wife, although he still glared at her mutinously as though he could telepathically force her to take better care of herself. Several people snorted laughter and tried to cover it with coughs and yawns, Emerald murmured something too low for her translator to pick up which nevertheless made Bubblegum gape at the big Viking and smile in an entirely too knowledgeable way.

Olgar's cheeks burned with embarrassment and he shrank further back into his seat. Whatever Emerald had said it didn't sound complimentary and he was still annoyed that Eagle had disregarded his direct instructions and stayed awake far too long. She did that a lot, it was almost as if she didn't know that a wife's place was to be obedient to her husband. He supposed whoever had made that rule hadn't been married to a woman like Eagle; she was a force of nature when it came to her independence. And truly when he considered the other options he was glad of it, Olgar supposed a demure and subservient woman would be absolutely no fun. In truth he liked the way she ordered him around.

"I've heard the name before"

Everyone's attention swivelled to the petite vampire with the shock of dark coppery-red hair sticking out at crazy angles from her head, he though this one was called Matilda Kincorth. She shifted shyly at their direct gaze, reaching out to take the delicately gloved hand Zoe rested against her shoulder before she spoke again.

"I don't know how much you know about vampires-" The assembled allies murmured curiously to each other, except for Marceline who looked bored and was inspecting her fingernails. "Well the important thing to know for right now is that we have a perfect memory. Most of us, anyway. Our healing powers mean our brains don't ever lose information unless we actively choose not to regenerate our memories. So if we remember something we remember it as clearly and completely as if it just happened today. And I remember the Dark Majesty. He was a rumour hundreds of years ago, before I was Turned. I was born after the bombs fell so I never knew if he was seen before the Mushroom War but he was a dark cloud of death seen hovering over badly affected towns and cities. Sometimes he was a tall horned man with fire instead of eyes and his nose rotted away. They said he stalked the tribes and could kill just by touching your skin-"

The petite vampire broke off in shock as Billy swore loudly and leapt to his feet, driving a furious fist into the back of his chair.

"The Lich! I should have known, how is he even free? I'll find him and pound him to dust this time!"

He paced furiously around the room, hands clenching and unclenching in frustrated anger. Matilda had retreated behind her partner, icy blue eyes staring worriedly at the enraged giant. She wasn't the dangerous arrogant monster Olgar had been expecting at all. That was a pleasant surprise. If only Billy would get a grip on himself instead of cursing and pacing.

Emerald lifted her head and fixed Billy with her odd eyed stare. After a moment her recently repaired translator crackled to life and the giant was forced to stop pacing so he could hear her.

"Billy calm down. I've been trying to think who could be involved in all of this for days now. If we'd managed to capture any of the mercenaries alive we might have more ideas, but it was understandable that Marceline shredded them when they attacked so suddenly. It doesn't change the fact that we don't know for sure if the Lich is involved or if Joshua is just old fashioned crazy. We don't know that this Dark Majesty is the Lich at all, it's based on centuries old rumours. Perhaps we should hold back on brutalizing the furniture until we get further answers."

"I can go and search the remains of my house for clues." Marceline added with a sour look on her face. "Those bastards destroyed it pretty good with their monstrous demon fire but I might be able to salvage a couple of things and see if there are any nasties still hanging around. If I catch anyone I'll call the palace for backup but I'd rather not have the whole hero gang trampling anything that survived. Just me and the girls, we'll scope it out and report back. It's starting to get dark so we'll get going as soon as possible."

Olgar cleared his throat, something had occurred to him.

"You said the General was involved somehow, he's the only one who can use monstrous demon fire? I know he killed Goltan but to be honest I've never known much about his backstory. Can anyone enlighten me? I'd like to finally know what I'm dealing with."

Bubblegum nodded thoughtfully.

"I know a bit about him, I keep pretty extensive files on possible trouble makers. He's old, even older than Marceline. I don't know if it's true but he's rumoured to be the commanding officer who ordered the deployment of a large number of mushroom bombs during the war. In one way he's a lot like Ice King, he somehow used magic or science to extend his life but lost his humanity in the process. He has no memory of anything but military strategy now; he's a mercenary available for hire to the highest bidder if they're willing to stomach using him. He's been involved in a lot of wars, you'd know better than me about what he did to the Piglet tribe. I don't know if he's a wizard exactly but he's definitely got some powers. The monstrous demon fire is proof of that."

"It's a dumb name anyway. I guarantee you that his damned stupid green fire has nothing to do with demons, we don't need to use ridiculous showy stunts like that. We have real demon magic." Marceline added, still looking put out. Her redhead friend had been chewing her lip thoughtfully, staring into space as she listened to them talk.

"So if he's basically a mercenary, how do we find him? Seems like he should would be pretty easy to track down or he'd never get any clients. And if he knows we're all holed up in the fluffy gumdrop fantasy château-" Bubblegum opened her mouth to object but Marceline shushed her before she could speak- "then why hasn't he come back? We're a pretty small army. We can't mobilize too many reinforcements. Why not just gather together a larger assault force and storm the place? Or at least besiege us? It's what I would do."

"This isn't even a defensible fort or castle, it's a palace. It's designed for fine ladies to live in, not for withstanding sieges. It would be relatively easy to overrun." Zoe added, finishing Matilda's thought for her. She shrugged nonchalantly and ran her hand down her long braid self-consciously.

"I've wondered the same thing," Emerald replied. "None of this makes any sense or follows any logical pattern, it's like whoever is behind all this is just lashing out in blind anger. If the Lich is involved then he's not his usual strategic genius, that's apparent from his need to hire a mercenary to plan his attacks. And if he's hired a military genius then where's the genius part? So far they've sent a small force through a secret tunnel that they probably didn't know was there until they stumbled upon it. But since then? Why haven't they used The General's skills to plan a large scale attack? The Lich works alone, he's never had a need for servants or minions before now. He's also not at full strength, why send an assault force when he could kill us all with just a look? I have a theory. Assume, hypothetically, that we are actually dealing with the Lich and not somebody new. If he projected his future consciousness back through time and there was a significant and material difference in his mental processes-"

"Then he'd have fried his consciousness and his powers all in one go!" Bubblegum yelled in a rush, shouting excitedly over the Rainicorn. Emerald gave her a look that could have chilled the marrow in her bones but Bubblegum didn't notice, she was babbling excitedly about how the disruption of the something continuum meant the Lich was every him he had ever been all at once, or something like that, because he didn't know how to protect his mental resonance the way she'd been studying. Olgar couldn't understand more than every other word of what she said but Eagle was nodding thoughtfully with a small frown on her face so Olgar assumed it made sense, if you knew much about the science of time travel.

"So basically if we are dealing with the Lich then he's super weak and struggling to form a coherent plan? Good. That's easier to deal with than the Lich when he's at full strength." Marceline nodded, looking relieved. "Right then, come on girls. We're going to the cave."

...

"I wish I knew which bastard to kill."

Marcy flipped over another charred lump of wall with her foot and sighed despondently at the crumbling remains underneath. Another mercenary, this time in the smouldering hole where her kitchen had been. She wasn't particularly attached to the kitchen but she'd had a few keepsakes there, things she'd picked up on her travels and a couple of centuries old birthday gifts from friends that weren't around any more. If the merc wasn't already dead she'd probably have killed them all over again. The skeleton was barely recognisable but she thought it might have been another low status demon; they seemed to have made up the main bulk of the attacking force. Judging from the horns it could have been a Minotaur but it was impossible to be sure, the skull was too badly damaged to get a good idea of what the face of the living creature had looked like. This one must have been caught when the fridge exploded from the heat. The air was too thick with magic and burnt things to get a decent scent on who'd been there or what direction they'd left in. Whoever had set the fire had made absolutely certain not to leave any witnesses, it was frustrating because as much as she wanted to slowly torture to death the people who'd threatened her family it meant they now had no leads to find those same people. Zoe had already pointed out that it made perfect sense to kill leftover troops if they were trying to run a covert operation. Marcy had always valued Zoe's cold blooded ruthlessness, so long as nobody she cared about was involved she was like an ice sculpture.

"I hope you weren't too attached to anything in here, Marcy."

Tilda wasn't cold in the same way. She just operated on a slightly less serious plane of thought to everyone else and right now it was grinding on Marceline's nerves a little.

"Yeah actually, I was plenty attached to my house. And my cave. And all of my stuff. I mean, why did they even need to burn my closet? All my clothes were in my closet! And my collection of pre-war records; some of those were one-of-a-kind! Uncultured bastards." Marceline snarled again, kicking savagely at the dead merc's charred skull and sending the remains of the helmet skittering away into the rubble.

"There's something over here, some kind of tracks." Zoe called from the other side of the cave. Marcy cast one last sad glance at the burnt crud that used to be her life and floated over, motioning Tilda to follow her.

It wasn't much but if she squinted Marceline could see the partial outline of paw prints at the edge of the cave, stretched and elongated like some kind of mutant big cat. The sight of them caused a shiver of disgust to run down Marceline's spine although she couldn't immediately place why. She narrowed her eyes and concentrated, trying to think where she'd seen prints like those before.

What Matilda had said earlier was true; vampires had perfect memory. But half-demons didn't and it had always annoyed the crap out of her. Her memory was excellent compared to most people, a fact which irritated Bonnibel no end, but some unfortunate interaction with her demon powers disrupted her vampire memory and made it just freakishly good rather than absolutely perfect.

She'd seen these prints before, somewhere a long time ago. Someplace hot, she thought. Someplace she didn't have a lot of fond feelings about. After a moment of searching helplessly through her memories the vampire half of her brain kicked in and mentally slapped her. Of course, they were like the cat demons in the Nightosphere, the Grimmalks. She flicked her forked tongue across suddenly dry lips; it had been years since she'd seen one but she was willing to bet that Grimmalks were still seriously bad news. She wasn't exactly scared of them but they didn't sit well with her either. Grimmalks were the coldest bastards she'd ever met.

Her stomach lurched violently; the Grimmalks still had a lot to answer for. It made her feel ill thinking about what they'd done during various wars and skirmishes and she'd spent years torturing humans to death for food and fun, she wasn't easily offended. But remembering her own personal run in with a Grimmalk... that little boy had been the same age as her Finn. For a second she could see nothing but his beautiful blue eyes staring glassily from atop her own blood stained axe, skin waxy white and neck ending in a brutal red mess. Marcy shook her head violently to clear the image even as she fought down the nausea it inspired. Finn was in the palace under constant guard, safely asleep and sucking on Hambo II's ear. She'd tucked him in herself and pressed a loving kiss against his forehead before she'd left. Dammit she _hated_ Grimmalks.

"Do you know what it is?" Zoe hovered anxiously by her shoulder, staring intently at her with big concerned eyes and worrying her lip between her fangs. It was a nervous habit she'd only ever show around people she was completely at ease with; she usually had a perfect poker face.

"It's the prints of a Grimmalk. _I fucking hate Grimmalks_. I can deal with you guys when you're shifted to kittens. You're even sometimes cute and playful. But as a rule I hate cats and the Grimmalks are the main reason why. Remember right at the start, when I left you guys for a few weeks to get to know Stefan? Well I went to spend some time with my Dad in the Nightosphere, I never told you why I came back up topside. There was this particular Grimmalk who just wouldn't leave me alone, she stuck to me like a gross feline shadow."

The girls were staring wide eyed; Marceline never talked about her past. Ever. They were expressly forbidden from asking questions about it.

"It wasn't like I ever wanted to rule down there anyway but it was kinda nice to hang out with the old man sometimes, see what his biz was like. Especially when all that 'you're too unnatural to be a Sire you can't get freaky with your lineage' drama got kicked up with the Old Blood vamps, it was good to have a place to escape to for a while. Ja'an, the Grimmalk, she hated that my Dad wanted me to take over and not her; she'd been his favourite advisor until I arrived. She said he was like a father to her which is pretty fucking ironic. Would've been nice if he'd been like a father to me. So anyway she tried to frame me; left this little kid's severed head on Daddy's desk on top of the family axe. Of course the whole thing _literally stank_ of her, we knew who'd done it. She didn't even deny it! Just asked me if I'd liked the present she left for me. She got banished, I took the axe and left. You know I'd already taken my vow and gone off murder as a pastime. Couldn't stand seeing that kid's family every day, they knew if I'd never turned up he'd still be alive. I as good as killed him, right after I vowed not to kill anyone ever again."

It was the most angry the Royal Guard had seen her seen her in centuries; even their unannounced arrival after being specifically told to stay away hadn't caused the queen to shoot blue sparks of flame from her tongue when she growled. Both vampires reeled backwards away from her with twin expressions of shock and reverence on their pale faces. This, _finally_ , was the Vampire Queen they'd kill and die for; the Sire they'd sworn absolute loyalty to for the rest of their long centuries. Both women lowered their heads in respect, skin tingling as the psychic resonance of Marceline's anger beat against them like a furious storm. She didn't notice though, she was too busy spitting cold fire and hating Grimmalks for all she was worth.

The Royal Guard shared a sidelong look from beneath lowered lashes, the kind of silent conversation couples managed to passively develop over long decades of reading each other's faces.

Tilda nodded at Zoe's quirked eyebrow, wordlessly agreeing that they should probably intervene now.

After a few moments Marceline distantly registered through her burning haze of Grimmalk-hatred that Zoe had lain a tentative hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, do you think you can stay calm? They're a threat but they're one we already know about, something we can prepare for. It doesn't seem like they're too bright either. We can deal with that, you know you're smarter than them. Just please calm down or your lady's going to think we gave you an aneurysm. Honestly? The princess scares me a little, I don't want an angry piece of confectionery as an enemy. She might cut my head off with a sharpened candy cane if she thought we'd done something to upset you."

And just like it had centuries before, Zoe's mix of gentle humour and calm words laced with her own vampire magic worked. Marcy felt the tension begin to slide out of her shoulders and the blue flames died down, she even let slip a little snort of humour before she could stop herself. The mental image of Bonnie as a sugary pink Grim Reaper toting a sharpened candy cane scythe was unexpectedly funny. Her fangs were still twice the length they usually were and her hair was moving restlessly despite the lack of breeze but she was at least rational again, less likely to rip apart anything vaguely cat shaped.

As vampires aged and strengthened they often developed magical Talents, that was well known even to mortals. She could raise the dead, in a manner of speaking, and create images in people's minds with her songs and stories. She supposed it was a manifestation of her intense sense of loss; so many people in her life had died or left. She couldn't really bring them back, no magic could do that. But she could raise skeletons to do her bidding and that was fun and sometimes useful. Zoe was reserved, quiet, deeply uncomfortable with conflict. She'd spent her formative years hiding any part of herself that didn't fit the role of perfect daughter that her family had demanded of her, stayed calm and passive, concealed all her true feelings. Over the centuries since her bite that had manifested itself as an ability to calm and ease the strong emotions of people she cared about, no matter that she'd made great strides in letting a select few people in past her pale exterior. The emotional calming was a gift Marceline would have given her first born to possess. Metaphorically of course; nobody was getting their hands on Finn.

She let the gentle magic work on her. She could have resisted since technically as Zoe's Sire she was immune to the younger vampire's Talent, but it was kinda nice to have something calm her down. Like old times. Maybe she had missed the girls more than she admitted.

"Thanks. I don't say it often enough, but you know I missed you both, y'know? Even though there's no Kingdom any more and just a few of us left. Even though we lost almost everyone. Nice to have other vampires around, to not have to worry about scaring people." she murmured after a while.

Zoe pitched her a quiet half smile and rolled her shoulders in embarrassment. She wasn't great with shows of affection either unless they came from Matilda.

"Marcy? Your pendant's bleeping." Matilda said, pointing to the blinking comms crystal Bonnie had given her before they set off.

Distractedly she squeezed the glowing pink pendant to open the incoming message, thinking it was probably her lover checking on their progress. She was busy scanning the ground for the direction the Grimmalk prints had lead to when a voice she wasn't expecting addressed her. It was Peppermint Butler, his words were unusually raw and thick with emotion.

"You need to get back as quickly as possible, Marceline. There's been an intruder at the palace."

If her heart hadn't already been dead for a thousand years it would have stopped right then.

"The boys?" she whispered around the hard lump suddenly blocking her throat.

"No." Peppermint replied. His eyes were cast away from the screen and clouded with tears. "They're safely under lock and key with the Guard. The princess has been taken."


	16. Chapter 16

**True to my promise, the next chapter is here in time for your rockin' Saturday night. This is a pretty grim chapter in places, just y'know, in case you're easily triggered.**

 **Content Warning: Significant assault, serious bodily injury, cliffhangers.**

* * *

"I WILL HAVE SILENCE!"

Peppermint Butler's voice echoed around the room but it was ignored, much to his chagrin. The only effect it had was to hurt his already raw throat. The throne was hard and too big for him and despite being elected as temporary Regent he had been pretty much ignored in the confusion of the moment. The general populace of the Candy Kingdom had gathered and he was spectacularly failing to organise them into search parties.

Grod, he _really_ didn't want to do this. Candy people were so much harder to rule than demons; demons didn't explode if you accidentally scared them a bit. It didn't help that he'd been unprepared. Worry was eating through his gut, panic for his beloved mistress and intense fury that she'd been taken from right under his nose. Despite all his careful planning he'd never thought to find extra protection for the princess, she'd always been excellent at looking after herself. Peppermint Butler cursed himself for an idiot, how could he have overlooked protecting her when he was so utterly devoted to her?

And now the candy people were looking to him to lead them in her absence and he didn't think he was truly up to the task. Metaphorically of course, because nobody was actually looking to him at all right now. Peppermint considered using a small burst of dark magic to get their attention but he was already tired from trying to locate her Majesty and with how spooked the crowd was it would only lead to someone exploding from fear. He'd rather not have his first act as Regent be to accidentally kill his subjects.

He gripped the arm rests of the throne harder to stop the shaking in his hands. He'd long ago desensitize himself to the usual explosive effects of fear but he hadn't had a cause to worry for the princess like this in such a long time. The first thing he'd done on being unable to find her Majesty was check the small magic mirror he kept in his private quarters, the one which showed him Ice King's mountain lair. The old blue wizard was shuffling around in his underwear singing tunelessly to himself and looking at a scrapbook which seemed to contain candid photos of various princesses. Bubblegum was nowhere to be seen and that's when Peppermint had begun to panic. Usually her disappearances were predictable and he could send some Banana Guards or Joshua to bring her home from the Ice Kingdom, assuming she couldn't break out herself. This time his location magic had completely failed to show him where in Ooo his mistress was and that meant whoever had taken her had also taken the time to block him with dark magic much stronger than his own. There was no way of knowing if she was even still alive. His hands shook uncontrollably no matter how hard he gripped the throne. He couldn't stop thinking about the way Joshua had discovered his wife and son's bodies, charred and blackened by monstrous demon fire, couldn't forget that sugar burned fast and hot.

"You look unhappy, Peppermint Butler. Can I hug you?"

Cinnamon Bun's sad squishy face loomed above him and before he could reply the big man had enveloped him in a crushing bear hug.

"Don't be afraid." he whispered stickily into Peppermint's ear. "The princess is good at getting lost but she's good at coming home again too. She promised me one time that she'd always come home. She won't be away long, you'll see." And with a syrupy smile he put Peppermint down and wandered off to give Starchy the same treatment. Despite Cinnamon Bun's mental deficits he was probably doing the most of anyone to keep the crowd calm right now, Peppermint Butler made a mental note to make sure the big man got the reward of his choice when all this was finished. Because for all Cinnamon Bun had no concept of the dangers currently stalking their princess he was right; she was incredibly resourceful and always did manage to find her way home. Peppermint's hands stilled a little at the thought.

He was saved the effort of trying to calm the crowd further by the timely arrival of Marceline and her undead entourage. The queen was furious and terrified, that much was obvious, but when her guards swooped in behind her his demon eyes allowed him to clearly see the calming effects of the blonde one's magic smoothing down her queen's more violent tendencies by long practised habit. He caught the blonde's eye and sent her a small smile of thanks, one devoted butler to another.

They dropped out of the air in front of the throne in formation and Marceline touched down with flawless grace, advancing on him with her expression now carefully blank.

"Tell me everything." she breathed, barely loud enough for him to hear.

In truth there wasn't much to tell. It was Billy who'd raised the alarm, he'd gone to speak to the princess on some small matter regarding Joshua's guard rotation and found her study completely trashed with the window shattered and a pool of dark pink syrupy blood trailing out across the sill and into the night. The first thing Peppermint Butler had done was to check that Ice King hadn't tried one of his bi-monthly marriage attempts, but when his magic mirror came up empty he'd panicked and called a search party. The entire Kingdom had come flooding to the palace to basically mill around in confusion and Peppermint realised he was not cut out for the Regency of the Candy Kingdom.

"What about her Gumball Guardians? Aren't they supposed to protect her from exactly this kind of stuff?"

"So far as we can tell they've been magically deactivated; they should have come crashing into the palace when the mercenaries broke through and again tonight but somehow they're not reacting. Nothing's working like it should!"

Marceline nodded as he finished speaking. Her set face betrayed a flicker of surprise as he vacated the throne and bowed to her, however.

"You are the most qualified to rule as Regent for now, Marceline. We need to start searching for her Majesty but I can't get them organised!" he moaned. The look on her face would have been comical under any other circumstance.

"No. Nononono, I am _not_ usurping Bonnie's throne! She only just forgave me for my last colossal fuck up, how do you think she's gonna react when she comes home and finds me lounging around like I rule the place?"

He knew that deep down she hated hurting people, except when the bloodlust made her effortlessly slice mercenaries in half, so he let his eyes widen and gently tear up, let his hands begin to shake again and watched with well hidden satisfaction as she tried to control the concern slanting across her features at his obvious distress. It was a cheap, low manipulation. It was shady and a little cruel to use the best parts of her nature against her. Peppermint Butler didn't feel a single shred of regret.

"Hey. Hey! Peps, cut it out, I can't! C'mon, don't look like you're gonna cry, man."

"Please." he begged with just a hint of a repressed tremble in his words. "If you ever really loved her, please do this for us. You're the closest thing she has to family; you know she'd trust you with her citizens. You're the only one we have left now. Please." He ended it with a tiny whisper, trailing off into expertly acted silence. The tears clouding his vision were real enough but the tremble was finally a well rehearsed fake. Now Marceline was in power she'd fix everything and conveniently ease the discomfort many of the candy folk still had about her.

Reluctantly and with a deep scowl marring her handsome features she lowered herself to the throne and threw him a glare.

"I'm only doing this for her. You make sure you tell her that." she snarled, but there was no real heat in her words. Peppermint got the impression that as well as worried and terrified and furious the vampire was just plain tired, somehow. Perhaps tired of the emotional roller coaster her life seemed to have become since she'd returned to the palace or just tired of worrying for her lover. He shared that last sentiment, at least.

One by one the crowd fell silent as they noticed the new taller figure sitting in the throne. Plenty stared at her but nobody questioned her right to sit there. Cinnamon Bun waved happily at her and she smiled back carefully, lips pressed together to hide her fangs. Peppermint Butler approved, it would be a bad idea to remind them too much of how different she was at that point. Already she was making the effort to fit the role they needed her to play; it would work nicely for his long term plans too if they found the princess. _When_ , he mentally corrected himself. _When we find the princess. We will find her._

...

Olgar was trying to elbow Billy in the ribs; it was just unfortunate that the giant was too tall and that Olgar's elbow connected painfully with his kidneys.

"Ow! Cut it out you dinkus, what the hell are you doing?" he growled to his old friend, annoyance mixing with worry making it come out more angrily than he intended. This whole situation stank; the princess was missing and it was obvious to him that the Lich had taken her and nobody was doing a damn thing about it. At least Marceline was sitting the throne now; she cut a much more regal figure than the little fat candy man had. Billy couldn't say he completely approved of her just taking charge like that in Bubblegum's absence but he supposed that until the little princes grew a bit more nobody else really fit the specification for a Regent.

"Huh, sorry Billy. Guess I don't know my strength. I was just going to say, you think the princess is going to flip out about this? Like, her beau sitting all majestic and queenly in a borrowed throne? Been a while since the vampires had a throne of their own. I don't doubt Marceline's intentions but you can't say people won't talk."

"Are you seriously just going to stand there and gossip about this like an old woman? Olgar, for shame! The princess could be dead for all we know and you want to chat about how her politics might be affected by her girlfriend sitting in her chair?"

Olgar shrugged a little uncomfortably before he replied.

"What can we do for right now, though? We can't tear off all around Ooo looking for her, we can only stand here and wait for Marceline to decide how to play this. And you _know_ it's political, anything involving the princess is political by default. So why not talk about it? I just don't know if this is going to sit well with her when she finds out about it."

Billy opened his mouth to reply angrily, but Olgar's logic was solid. There wasn't a thing they could do except stand by and observe until they were given orders. Grudgingly he nodded. Perhaps Bubblegum wouldn't flip out, but people would still talk. People were idiots; if the Vampire Queen had wanted to usurp the Candy Throne she'd have just taken it by force and murdered anyone who dared speak out against her, that was the vampire way. But he had to admit that from what he'd seen that wasn't Marceline's way. She was the most reluctant ruler he'd ever met, part moody teenager and part diplomat and in no way comfortable being the focus of attention without her music to hide behind. Maybe she could pull this off after all; it was no secret that she detested being put in charge.

Billy took his time thinking it over before he responded.

"I dunno, seems like people'd have to be pretty stupid to think she's trying to steal the throne from her own lover, especially when it's public knowledge how whipped she is for the princess. Bubblegum's a sweet little cupcake on the surface but it's quite obvious that she's got a soul of cast iron. She'd never in a million years let Marceline have one ounce more power in her Kingdom than she wanted her to have. Maybe that's enough to keep the rumours at bay? And Marceline's not asking anyone to bow; she's just sitting there glaring them all into silence. Gotta admit that's a first class glare she's got going on. Maybe she can pull this off without it ruining her."

Olgar considered the vampire sitting ramrod straight on the tall throne and glowering around at the assembled crowd. Now that Billy mentioned it she did look kinda uncomfortable.

"You're right. Like always. She's too damn awkward to be a serious threat to the Kingdom, I mean she's a reclusive vegetarian who ran away from the chance to rule the demon dimension. And she's desperately in love with the princess, any fool with eyes can see that. My Eagle saw it right away, before they were even talking again. I think she'll do her best by the Kingdom when she's needed and retreat back to the shadows at the first possible opportunity." Olgar finished with a sage nod.

Billy took a breath to reply but the last of the bickering candy folk had fallen silent and Marceline stood up slowly from the throne, looking around to catch everyone's gaze as openly as she could. It was a good touch he thought, standing and not floating over them. Candy Regent, not invading Vampire Queen; the distinction was important. Her words were surprisingly quiet, forcing the last few whisperers to shut up or risk missing what she was saying. Billy was impressed with her crowd control skills, who'd have guessed she'd been good at calming large groups of panicked candy folk?

"You all know who I am and you all know what's happened. If anyone has a problem with me organising a search party for the princess then speak up now and I'll gladly cede the responsibility to you."

She paused and looked around, meeting everyone's eye wherever possible. It was a bold move to ask first thing if anyone had a problem with her. When she looked his way Billy nodded very slightly and offered her a small smile. It could have just been his imagination but he almost thought her mouth curled very slightly upwards in response.

"Are you overthrowing the princess?" some idiot at the back of the hall called. And just when everything had been going so well, too. Billy clenched his fists in annoyance and shared an eye roll with Olgar.

"No. I'm trying to _find_ the princess so she can come sit here and deal with you lot instead and I can go play music and not have to worry about being asked stupid questions. I have no interest in throwing her anywhere except sometimes into the bath when she spends too long in her lab and smells like she's starting to ferment. Ok? So please stop worrying that this is anything more than a purely temporary arrangement. The Kingdom needs to keep running even while she's missing and as Peppermint Butler so helpfully pointed out, I'm the only one qualified to fill in for now. Does anyone else have any objections?"

Marceline was obviously working very hard to keep the snarl out of her voice. Nobody else spoke out although a few whispered amongst themselves. They looked away in embarrassment when she tried to make eye contact with them. Most just nodded to her or put on a fake smile; they weren't terribly bright or brave but they could recognise honestly when it was laid out for them and Marceline hadn't said a thing that wasn't completely truthful. She stepped down from the high dais that held the throne and carefully moved amongst the crowd, organising the volunteers into teams and giving them areas to search. After a couple of moments listening to her Billy and Olgar shared another smile; she was grouping the most timid candies together and sending them to search places like Lake Butterscotch "in case the princess has been kidnapped by someone trying to take her for a surprise romantic date". They were at least safe from the possibility of the more impressionable candy folk finding themselves in any real danger.

"Olgar, Billy. I need you to get the rest of the Guard and come with me and Peppermint Butler to follow the b-blood trail leading from the study. I can't help but think she left it on purpose." Marceline said, coming up in front of them and meeting their eyes evenly as she spoke. Billy could very nearly ignore the tiny stutter in her voice if he tried but up close she looked terrible. Less like a beautiful undead being and more like a walking corpse; the worry must be manifesting itself whether she wanted it to or not. Normally she'd shape shift any unwanted expressions away but they seemed to be creeping back when she wasn't paying attention. But she also looked somehow more mature, more regal and serious. He supposed it could have been her shape shifting talents making her face fit her current role better but she didn't seem to be aware of it and so far as he knew the shape shifting was an active choice the same way her healing was. Olgar lay a gently hand on her shoulder and pulled her into a hug.

"I'm so sorry," he murmured against her hair. "We never thought she was even a target. If we'd just been more vigilant-" But she cut him off with a gentle squeeze back.

"It's not your fault. None of you. Maybe before I would have blamed you, or Peppermint, anyone. But Bonnie can look after herself, she's been doing it for centuries; and we had no indication she was in danger. I left the palace and left her alone, I'm more to blame than any of you. Wait here and we'll assemble once the other search teams have left."

And with one last nod to them both she let go of Olgar and swept off amongst the crowd. Olgar watched her go with a frown creasing his weathered lilac face.

"You know, it's a little strange watching her grow from a sulky teenager into a strong and responsible leader. Especially since it's happened over the space of a few days. I thought she was literally incapable of changing from an awkward nineteen year old? Did she look a little older to you? Man, vampires are weird." Olgar murmured, not taking his eyes off her back as she strode through the crowds. _Strode_ , thought Billy. Not flew. Olgar had a point, vampires were so very weird.

...

Her shoulder burned where the deep gash was still oozing blood, but it was a vaguely triumphant burn. Bonnie knew she'd left a trail and if there was one thing Marceline was born to do it was follow blood. She couldn't actually ignore it, one drop of blood in the lake one time and the pale woman had freaked out and refused to go swimming in case she lost control and tried to drink the whole thing. A blood trail would lead Marcy here like a homing signal, she couldn't believe her kidnapper hadn't realised it.

"You're really breathtakingly stupid." she told the big maroon cat-thing that had attacked her. Bonnie wished she didn't sound so feeble and slurred.

"Is that a fact? I'll be sure to remember it when I'm desecrating your beloved's cold corpse." Cat-thing replied with a purr. Her odd gold eyes flicked around the dank earthen cavern she'd taken Bonnie to and rested on a rusting peg driven deep into the wall. She grabbed the princess roughly and pulled her bound hands up above her head then secured them to the peg with a thick leather rope. No way was she undoing that with her teeth, more was the pity. Her abdomen flared with burning pain every time she moved, cat-thing had kicked her to the ground when she'd come crashing through the window and Bonnie's abused muscles screamed every time she tried to straighten them out.

The whole time Bonnie was literally biting her tongue to keep from saying how ridiculous the cat-thing was. She didn't need reminding that Marceline was a vampire and would turn to ash if she was killed thereby denying her of a corpse to do anything at all to. It was tempting to say it but she really didn't want cat-thing to remember that vampires had other powers too, like being able to follow a blood trail as if it were a glowing beacon. So far as she was pretty sure her captor hadn't bothered to worry about the steady pulse of dark pink blood dripping down her arm. It was mostly dried into her dress now and the sickly sweet coppery smell made her feel a little ill; churning in her stomach along with the bruising, the panic at being abducted and the hazy impotent fury of being unable to free herself.

At least she was warmer than when Ice King kidnapped her, that was an unexpected silver lining. But her head ached fiercely and everything felt so much more clouded and confused than she was used to. There was a word for that, she knew there was, but she couldn't quite remember it. A word to describe the effects of a heavy blow to the head. More than anything it bothered her that she couldn't remember that word.

Cat-thing was looming over her now and she was seized by an irrational desire to do something defiant and quite possibly very stupid. Bonnie wasn't usually given to acting stupidly but she needed to do _something_ and she couldn't move her bound and bruised limbs so she took a deep breath and spat as hard as she could into the odd golden eyes that were glaring down at her. Cat-thing howled and reeled backwards, scrubbing her face and snarling. But after a second or two she was back and this time insensible with fury. Bonnibel nodded to herself again as if she'd gotten a definitive answer to a question that had been bugging her. Yes, being helpless and petrified and tortured made her incredibly stupid. She'd try to remember that.

Meanwhile the enraged cat demon raked razor sharp claws down Bonnie's face and neck, leaving deep rips in the skin that welled with more blood and caused fresh waves of now-familiar agony to pulse through her. The cat-thing hissed angrily and that close Bonnie could smell the rancid stink of her breath, like she'd been eating dead things. If she'd opened her eyes she might have seen the enormous yellowing fangs that were seconds away from ripping her entire face off but all her defiance had fled her when the first claw had opened her flesh, leaving only the intense fear behind. She pressed her eyelids tightly closed and tried to hold in a scream, tried not to let traitorous tears spill down her ruined face. Stupid and terrified as she was she refused to give the big ugly cat the satisfaction of knowing how much it hurt.

"Ja'an!" a deep voice boomed from across the room. "We don't play with the bait! Let her be, it's not like her spit is poisonous. Which part of 'uninjured' was difficult for you? I wanted the pleasure of removing her lovely flesh myself. You are such a damn barbarian. Come help me out here, as entertaining as it is to watch you be humiliated we have work to do."

The awful tearing pain decreased a little as the claws left her skin and Bonnie risked opening her eyes again. The cat-thing had retreated back and was glaring at a shadowy figure in the doorway, licking sticky pink blood from her paws as she went. Bonnie was distantly glad she was bound to the iron peg by her hands, she didn't think she'd have been able to stand up on her own after the explosion of fresh pain the cat demon had inflicted on her. The figure came forward into the light and resolved into a tall grey man in a ridiculous old fashioned suit who glared at the cat demon; she supposed that must be Ja'an. From beneath his silky black hair stubby little horns emerged which combined with his sharply pointed beard made his face look at least twice as long as it really was.

 _Wait, dial that back a minute._ The rational part of her brain kicked in and instead of trying not to whimper in pain and terror she stared hard at the man. _Demon. Grey skin. Pointed ears. Silky jet black hair. Silly clothes._ He glanced up to her restraints and his face caught the light at just the right angle. _Yep, iridescent green eyes._

The last time she'd seen eyes like that had been when Marceline's father had dropped by unexpectedly for a visit and had to be banished before he snacked on the serving staff's souls. His daughter had inherited the colouring but her eyes weren't really iridescent in the same way, they just shimmered softly with an almost human green except when she was angry or hungry and they blazed red. Still, it was starling to see eyes so similar to someone she knew so well staring out from a stranger's face. Bonnie couldn't let the opportunity to find out more about her enemy pass, no matter how scared and bewildered she was.

"So you're related to Marceline and Hunson? Do all demons have questionable fashion sense or is it just your family?" Bonnie gasped out against the pain. It was embarrassing how weak and breathy her voice sounded in her own ears. When Ja'an had come crashing through her window she'd suffered a heavy blow to the head and she'd had lost a fair amount of blood so it wasn't surprising but she still felt weird; sluggish, like her thoughts were struggling to move upwards against some heavy crushing weight. She smiled to herself unexpectedly. The word she was looking for was _concussion_ , she must be badly concussed. Yes that made sense. _Concussssssssion_. For no reason at all she wanted to say the word aloud to see how its sibilance felt on her lips.

"You're a sharp one, princess! I look forward to seeing what new witticisms you come up with while I torture you to death. As for your dear sweet mongrel, we are indeed distant relatives thought it shames me to admit it. Through her father's side, not her filthy dog of a mother. I assure you my bloodline is pure."

Some kind of demon purity fanatic, then. It had always confused her why so many groups of people were obsessed with the idea of their racial purity; it was like they'd never heard of evolution or hybrid vigour. Bonnibel made a mental note that neither of the demons who held her captive were completely sane and she shouldn't risk pushing them any more than she had to. Instead, she wanted to know more about this man's strange obsession with bloodlines. But before she could ask any more questions the grey demon had taken several long strides towards her and was leaning in entirely too close, with a thrill of confused horror she realised he was _smelling_ her.

"Mm, more like strawberries. That is a shame. It pains me to deny myself the pleasure of your company, your Majesty, but you won't be lonely for long. When I return I'll make it up to you in all manner of delightful ways. Yes, you'll taste much more like blueberries by the time I'm sated."

She didn't know how to even begin formulating a reply to that; just stared at him in open horror.

He bowed to her and swept from the room, clicking his fingers under Ja'an nose until she followed him with one last angry hiss over her shoulder at the princess that turned her knees to water with terror. Bonnie wasn't easily frightened but she'd never encountered a creature like the cat demon before.

Bonnibel waited and listened, ignoring the pain flaring through her body with difficulty. It was dark and warm and completely silent in the cavern, their footsteps had ascended a stone staircase and disappeared above her head. Just to be certain she counted to one thousand in German before wriggling around and staring at the thick leather strap that bound her hands.

The peg was too deeply embedded into the wall to pull out and there was nothing at all within her reach but warm earth and tree roots. Even if she'd had a tool or weapon that she'd been able to reach she felt too weak to lift anything; just staying upright under her own steam without resting all her bodyweight on the straps was difficult enough. The room itself was bare of anything but a table and chairs in one corner and the peg set into the wall that she was bound to.

Why couldn't she just use her brain? It hurt to try, everything was moving through her mind at a crawl instead of her more usual breakneck speeds. Her crown had been knocked from her head in her study when she'd been ambushed. That was a blow; the gem in the crown was designed to augment her thoughts and speed up her mental processes as well as protect her mind from mental attack. Without it she felt like a limb had been cut off. But at least it hadn't fallen into the hands of the demons; she'd seen it roll away under her desk when Ja'an was striking her again and again in the head. She'd been dazed but she was certain it was still there waiting for her.

No way out. No weapon. Too weak to pull the peg out. Heavy leather more likely to break her teeth than be broken by chewing. So that just left...?

After some desperate minutes of painful thought she came to her grim conclusion. Perhaps Marceline was already on her way or perhaps it would take all night before anyone even realised she was missing and followed her blood. The demons could be out clearing up the trail right now anyway, just because they'd not mentioned it to her didn't mean they hadn't thought about it. There was no obvious way to free herself, her current Champion was insane and locked in a secure cell in the palace and whatever dark tracking magic Peppermint Butler thought she didn't know he used clearly wasn't working because otherwise he'd be here already.

Everyone she loved was in danger and that was so much more important than her own safety. It was almost too obvious, even despite her crippling concussion, what the demons had planned. They would lure Marceline away from the palace and attack the babies while they were undefended. Or ambush her and stake her in the woods while she followed the blood. Either way something awful would happen to people Bonnie loved, and it would be her own fault because she hadn't fought back hard enough, because she'd allowed herself to be beaten and taken.

Long minutes ticked by and still she thought frantically, fighting the fog of exhausted confusion that tried to fill her brain. With every passing second she grew more and more desperate.

She was responsible for her Kingdom but it went so much deeper than that. She was responsible for the two little boys she fostered as well as for Marceline's tender and unexpectedly fragile heart. Unbidden an image blossomed behind her eyelids. Marceline screaming, her beautiful face twisted in agony, tortured and murdered by the cat demon and her distant cousin. The boys alone in the dark, whimpering in pain and terrified. No, she'd do anything to keep that from happening. Anything at all.

There was only one thing she could think of and it was only a tenuous hope. There was no proof she could really do it. But tenuous or not, hope was hope. Bonnie bowed her head to harden her resolve. She allowed herself to feel every ounce of intense pain her body was screaming at her, used it as a focussing point to bolster her courage and force her thoughts to move a little quicker. She was stronger than she gave herself credit for a lot of the time. Strong enough for what she needed to do. Nobody else would hurt like that, nobody she loved would have to feel the same terrible agony. She would sacrifice almost anything she had to give to keep them safe. Bonnie chanted her mantra under her breath, the one that had gotten her though so many crises in the past.

"Responsibility demands sacrifice."

She swallowed compulsively, it was going to hurt more than anything else she'd ever experienced. She tried to count in German again but the fog in her brain stopped her from remembering which numbers went where, or even if she was really counting in a different language or not. _Responsibility. Sacrifice. Family. Responsibility. You're stronger than you look. Do it for them. Sacrifice._ Straining her neck back as far as she could, Bonnibel managed to fit her slim wrist halfway into her mouth. She felt the stuttering thrum of her own terrified pulse fluttering against her lips.

Closing her eyes against the anticipated agony Bonnie breathed deeply through her nose and bit down as hard as she could into her own soft pink flesh.

...

Joshua's eyes few open with a start. Margaret was standing by his bed; she motioned him to stay silent and nodded to the hastily placed Banana Guards by his cell door. The rest of the Honour Guard had been scrambled to go look for the missing princess and their rotations had been taken over by sentient fruit. Margaret was right, that was just asking for trouble.

Joshua smiled at his beloved wife and silently got to his feet, edging on tiptoe to the doorway. One guard stood too close to the bars, his keys were so very nearly within reach.

Grod, he loved Margaret so much. She always looked out for him.


	17. Chapter 17

**This chapter is part of a really dark story arc, so sorry in advance if there's not a lot of laughs or cute moments here. Those will come later. We're getting closer to the end of the story but there's still a lot left to happen so stick with it! And review, every time I get a review I do an honest to God literal happy dance. You guys are so kind! And you make me blush.**

 **Is anyone else excited for Stakes? Stupid question, right? On one hand it's gonna be crazy good, on the other it's gonna make everything I've written completely massively non cannon compliant. Ah well, worth it!**

 **Content Warning: historical polyamory (just in case that's triggering for you), implied lesbian sex, self harm, mental illness.**

* * *

Matilda's Talent was seduction.

When it had first manifested she'd been a little disappointed; she'd been hoping for something cool like Zoe's hypnotizing calm voice or her old Vampire Guard friend Stefan's mind reading. But it turned out that the flavour of her soul was literally Lover and not Fighter, which was a bit ironic since she generally didn't get many opportunities to fuck threats to the queen to death. Not that the Royal Guard were ever really needed for protection. Marceline could take care of herself plenty well. They were just advisers, trusted friends who stayed close to the queen because they cared about her. There'd been a few times back in the bad old days when Matilda had had the pleasure of fulfilling her duties as a Royal Guard with violence but they'd been few and far between.

The first time Matilda had used her newly manifested Talent with Zoe had been so damn explosive it took her breath away and stood out in her perfect memory like a supernova against the night sky. She sometimes entertained herself for a few hours by playing the memories of it back in her head like a film. If she'd died that night she would have died happy, nothing she'd ever felt before that point compared to being in the arms of her lover with that intoxicating heat coiling around them, setting their senses on fire.

Thinking about it always caused her toes to curl a little and heat to pool in her stomach. Neither of them had known what they were doing but it had been glorious nevertheless. And after that she hasn't been so disappointed in her powers, so long as Zoe kept gasping and shivering and writhing against her like she could die from the feeling, like the pleasure was slowly drowning her and Matilda was her lifeline. It was good to feel needed and Zoe was so very good at needing her.

The seduction Talent had also proved surprisingly useful when her queen was stressed or angry. Long before there had been a Candy Kingdom with a pretty princess willing to help cool her passions there had been Matilda and her wonderful powers to shudder and tense and curl against. It was not love, it was just pure need and that was all Matilda wanted. She had Zoe to love her. Zoe even helped too sometimes, because even if they'd never been exclusive she hated to be left out. But it was Matilda that Marceline had sought out when she felt the need, Matilda who calmed her queen's temper and left her limp and sated. After all Marceline had seized the throne during a bloody civil war, the stress she was under never let up even for a second which meant Matilda was needed at all hours of the day, ready and willing with her soft lips and pale fingers.

 _These fingers right here,_ she thought looking down at her slender hands. _This mouth, this tongue, making her gasp so many filthy words and she never would tell us where she learned them, such a dirty mouth for such a pretty queen._ And it was hard, Grod it was so hard, to see her lovely queen fall apart under the pressure of being separated from her lover and not be able to do anything to help.

Zoe's gentle emotional control wasn't working now, Marceline had shrugged it off like an old coat the minute the candy folk had left. And Matilda hadn't seen her queen so upset and agitated since the night they'd received news that the rebels had drained two hundred humans dry and left them in a heap outside their main camp in direct defiance of their queen's order to abstain from human blood. That night she'd been so angry, she'd been like a wild animal. Matilda shivered at the memory. Now she paced the floor, twisting the ends of her long mane of dark hair between nervous hands and worrying her bottom lip between her fangs.

The Honour Guard had gone to gear up, they'd be back but it could take then a little while to be battle ready at their advanced age. _Long enough to make her swear and tremble against my touch_ Matilda's memories whispered. Zoe was staring at her, expression unreadable. Maybe she agreed, maybe not. But Matilda always did what she wanted. As much as she adored Zoe she had never required or even sought her lover's approval.

Marceline was pacing though, not hovering, and that was weird. She was muttering under her breath and it sounded like the words to a song but Matilda couldn't be sure, it could be a mantra or a prayer or just a promise to herself. So much of what the queen said turned out to be taken from a song one way or another, or had been when they'd know each other last. She'd known many vampires who had gone crazy but she'd always thought Marceline was far too resilient to succumb to madness; after all she'd grown up with her mind half clouded with demon darkness anyway so her Turning hadn't really affected her mental state the way others were prone to. But now, losing her lover while a nameless threat stalked her young wards, maybe she was beginning to crack under the strain of it all. Matilda was done standing by and watching her queen implode into madness; she knew what she could do to help. It was just a wonderful coincidence that it was also what she wanted to do, what she'd fantasized about doing ever since the long awaited letter had materialised in her hands.

Matilda drifted forwards until she was directly behind Marceline and let her hands fall gently to her shoulders, the way she'd done a thousand times before. It was their private code, a sort of ritual they always used to establish consent. If she tensed and pulled away then Matilda could retreat without her feelings hurt because the queen was just rejecting a shoulder rub and that was innocent enough and nothing she would get upset over. Rejection was something Matilda didn't handle well, ever since her human family had driven her and Zoe away into the wilderness for the sin of falling in love. In Ooo the word 'homophobia' had lost all meaning which may or may not have anything to do with the distinct lack of humans. Humans, in Matilda's experience, were amazingly small minded.

The queen didn't pull away. She tensed and stopped and looked over her shoulder at the shorter redhead but didn't pull away and didn't say a word when Matilda's hands began to rub soothingly against the tight muscles under her shirt. Emboldened, the younger vampire slowly lowered her head until her lips were brushing the queen's sensitive neck.

"You need to stay calm."

Matilda's teeth grazed the cool skin gently as she murmured it and the old familiar surge of warmth spread through her body at the sensation. Ashen shoulders rolled against Matilda's hands and Marceline tilted her head to allow better access to her neck, to those two pinprick scars that every vampire knew were devastatingly sensitive.

"Trying." she grunted, letting out a long sigh as Matilda loosed a tiny bit of her power into the hard muscles. The tension all but melted under her touch as she channelled heat into the cold flesh.

Heat had always been the queen's undoing, she adored the feeling of warmth flooding her body. And Matilda had long centuries of practice at streaming an electric kind of heat into her, letting it flow tingling out of her fingers and lips and skin and fill the other woman with a dizzying need to be closer to the source, closer to the seductive magic. It blocked out all thought and drowned all worries under fevered waves of pure sensation and it had never ever failed to stop the queen dead in her tracks, tug her mind away from spiralling worries long enough for her to master herself.

Pale fingers slipped under the hem of Marceline's shirt and caressed an almost painful pleasure into the cool skin of her back, waves of warmth travelling up and down her spine until she was gasping and shivering against the feeling.

And the magic made the lips on her neck wonderfully warm. So warm they almost burned and everything was slick heat and familiar soothing sensation. Her mind was turning deliciously blank and quiet as her worries began to fade. Nothing else could penetrate the lilting fog of magical pleasure sliding along her aching senses.

Matilda ramped up her power just a little more, letting an aura like a summer heat wave lap lazily around her. The queen was very nearly limp in her arms. She gasped and shivered with her eyes squeezed tight shut. Matilda spared an amused glance at Zoe who was watching with a fond smile on her pale lips. They knew how to look after their queen; that's why they were her chosen companions, closer to her than anyone. The intimacy and relief at finally touching that soft cool flesh again overwhelmed her and Matilda was lost in her own powers too. Lost to the sensation of her queen writhing and moaning under her touch, lost to Zoe's eyes devouring her from across the room.

"You want this?" she murmured low into her queen's ear. Consent was a part of the foreplay, nothing was more intoxicatingly erotic than knowing she was wanted, needed. And she'd never lay a finger on someone who didn't want her.

"Yesss, _Bon-_ "

And just like that the heat disappeared and the spell was broken. Matilda's power snapped back into her body and they were just two vampires staring in shock at each other. Matilda pushed away instantly like she'd been burned, magic slamming back under her skin and away from the terrible hurt, disappeared like it had never existed. The ache of rejection was already lashing through her and erasing the pleasure of a moment before.

All she'd wanted was to do what she was best at, wiping her queen's mind clean of the panic and worry. But Marceline wasn't thinking about her. Even through all that heat haze and seductive power it wasn't enough to erase her queen's new lover from her thoughts. Matilda didn't care that her heart belonged to someone else. She cared that for those few precious moments it was Matilda she was craving, that she was the one who satisfied that need. The rejection coiled closer and dug its claws into her fragile mind. Maybe she wasn't good enough any more, maybe that was why the queen had left and found something better. _Not wanted, not needed. Stupid stupid girl_. A sob shivered up her throat and almost out of her mouth before it was ruthlessly repressed. She didn't want anyone to know how much it hurt.

She couldn't even look at Marceline's stricken face, couldn't look anywhere. She was curled into herself in mid air to block everything out.

"Shit, Matilda- I can't do this. I'm sorry. It's, it's not you, ok? I just can't. Please, don't take it personal. I just... I can't." Matilda risked a glance at her in time to see that she was drifting away, arms wrapped tightly around herself and that awful panic and worry back on her face and Matilda had _failed_ and Grod it hurt so much-

And then Zoe was around her, protecting her like she always did, absorbing the hurt and making it shared instead of just her burden. Zoe nodded to the queen with sad eyes and cradled Matilda's head against herself. She felt the blonde vampire speak more than heard it, felt her words rumble through her chest.

"You should go meet the Guard, go find your lady. We'll stay here in case she comes home. I'll make sure Tilda understands. Go. I promise we'll be ok, we'll be waiting when you come home."

And Marceline was staring at them, unsure if she should leave. Matilda gave her a tiny nod. She should go and find the one she needed. Matilda added a small mental kick through the Sire bond to make her point. She could feel the regret and warring emotions under the surface of Marceline's thought and in an awful way that helped, helped to know that some small part of her was torn and didn't want to stop. Maybe she wasn't going to drown in rejection after all.

What did Zoe always say? Think about it logically. What else could she had expected? After all this time, Marceline had changed so much and found true love and there wasn't any place for Matilda's Talent any more, not here in this bright and sweet palace with its bright and sweet occupants. The centuries apart couldn't just be undone with a moment's heat and teeth on sensitive skin.

"I'll send a message if we find anything." Marceline mumbled. Then she turned and all but fled from the hall, leaving the girls alone.

But Zoe was still there. Zoe had always been there, always would be.

"Promise you won't ever leave."

"I promise." the blonde girl swore, dipping her head to lap at Matilda's throat, deft fingers now unlacing the back of her dress. Zoe looked after her. Zoe always knew what she needed and suddenly, almost violently, she needed her love. Zoe was more than happy to give it to her. Zoe needed her.

Matilda let it go again, all of it. The queen hadn't really been their queen for centuries. Zoe had always been hers, had been before they'd been Turned and before they'd been driven from their tribe, before they'd ever known what love was and they'd fallen recklessly into it with each other.

When long cool fingers slid under her skirts and bruising kisses pressed against her throat she let the heat between them build to a frenzy. When those same talented fingers hit that magical, mind bending place and she cried out harshly Zoe held her tight and whispered her name over and over, she was consumed by the heat haze and the sensation of her lover and for a few intense otherworldly moments her mind was deliciously blank of everything but Zoe, Zoe's cool skin and Zoe's kiss and Zoe's scent all around her.

And Matilda finally understood why Marceline hadn't been thinking about her, if she felt half as strongly for her princess as Matilda did for her Zoe. The last of the hurt at her rejection melted away under her lover's skilled fingertips.

...

With a soft click Marceline let the door slip fully closed, satisfied that the girls would be ok. She hated disappointing the them but she just _couldn't_ , not how she used to. She wasn't the same person anymore and she desperately hoped Matilda would understand that eventually.

It looked like she wasn't too hurt though, as usual Zoe swooped in and saved the day. Marceline felt awful about leaving them behind at the palace but they were just too distracting. She needed a clear head and the kind of intensely dramatic vampire politics she'd tired of in the first place were the exact opposite of that.

Besides, she felt guilty for whole other reasons too. Hadn't she just committed to being a guardian for two little homeless orphan boys with her lover? It would be a deep betrayal to let Matilda ease her stress the way she used to. It had just felt wrong. Her lips were the wrong shape, fingers too cool despite the magic. She didn't want Matilda to fuck her to peace, she wanted Bonnie to just be home and safe.

They'd never exactly discussed the precise terms of their relationship but Marceline had a feeling that Bonnie would have assumed they were monogamous by default. And she had too, there was no point denying it. What had ended them the last time was Marceline being unreasonably jealous of Bonnie's suitors, jealous that she might be attracted to someone else and might want to have a relationship elsewhere. So really deep down she knew that pretending she didn't realise they were exclusive was a bullshit excuse. She'd just gotten carried away in the moment, lost in memories of the past because the present was too fucking hard to deal with.

Her mind's eye was all too eager to show her the agony of betrayal Bonnie's face would be if Marceline had let the girls have their way. In her own fucking throne room too, it was physically painful to think about. She wanted to hurt, wanted it so badly. Physical pain would numb the emotional pain and it wasn't like she could do any lasting damage to herself. Just this once, because she didn't know what else to do.

Her nails lengthened into her palms and just for a second she let them break the skin, so guilty because she'd promised to never do that again but flooded with relief because the pain was easy to control, comforting because she could master it any time she wanted. It ached dully as waves of pure relief drifted over her. She felt light headed, like it could maybe all be a horrible dream and only the soothing pain was real.

"The princess would not be happy to know you were hurting yourself again."

A soft voice spoke behind her and she whipped around, instantly healing the cuts and letting the guilt slide from her face because nobody but Bonnie knew about that, it must be a lucky guess.

But Peppermint Butler was standing there with an understanding look on his broad striped face. He nodded to her hands and smiled a little sadly. "You're not the only one who can smell blood, my lady."

Really she should have denied it, but what was the point? He spoke too confidently to be guessing, he knew and nothing she could say would change that. She hung her head and nodded, staring down at the perfectly healed skin of her palms.

"I can't take much more." she admitted, ashamed beyond words but also relieved to finally say it out loud.

It was strange, she'd always gotten the impression that Peppermint Butler disapproved of her on principle and he wasn't someone she'd ever trusted. She knew he'd spent time with her father and that was enough for her to consider him beyond shady. But he seemed to genuinely care how she was feeling and he'd very publicly given his blessing to her and Bonnie which had helped a great deal to gain the acceptance of the rest of the candy citizens.

Besides he smelled completely honest right now. Marceline had always taken care that nobody should know quite how inhumanly good a vampire's sense of smell was. It helped immensely in judging people's character and was probably one of the reasons she didn't have so many friends. But apparently Peppermint Butler knew all about her supernaturally sharp senses and her occasional craving for physical pain and probably about her history with Matilda's unique powers. Grod alone knew how but he knew. And he was still here offering her comfort.

His attitude towards her was changing lately. Peppermint Butler was definitely coming close to being a friend and right now she'd take all the friends she could get. The little man took her hand and examined it closely, nodding in satisfaction when he could detect no trace of scarring.

"There now. Least said soonest mended, we'll say no more on the matter. I came to give you this."

He was holding out a folded square of familiar fuzzy white cloth.

"Is that-?" she asked, taking it from his outstretched hand. She was very nearly overwhelmed with gratitude at his thoughtfulness.

"I thought you could use a good luck talisman. Help remind you what we're all fighting for." he replied as she unfolded Finn's baby hat and inhaled the soft warm scents of her little boy.

It was true comfort, better than pain. Better than sex or heat or switching her brain off for a while. It was a tangible reminder of all the people she loved. It still smelled a little like the forest and like the special coconut flavoured gentle shampoo that she'd gotten for Finn that day in the market along with all his other baby things, like Bonnie and Jake and the old fairy stories they read together each evening before the boys went to bed. And now it smelled faintly of shame and tears because she was crying onto it and that was gross, they'd have to wash it before Finn wore it again and then it wouldn't smell like the day she found him any more. She sniffled back her sadness and folded it safely into her pocket, a warm secure slip of felt against her hip where she could feel its gentle weight.

"I have no personal experience of course, but I understand that to be someone's mother is a terrifying and wonderful experience. Your son is lucky to have you."

She could have reminded him that Finn wasn't her son, that she wasn't really his parent, that it was all just a stupid made up spur of the moment thing and probably a bad idea anyway. It was a mistake to think she was capable of looking after anyone, not even herself half the time. But the little hat smelled so comforting, so much like home. She just took another deep lungful of the wonderful scent that still hung around her and let it strengthen her. They would find Bonnie and be a family again. She'd promised Finn he wouldn't lose anyone else.

"Thanks you." she murmured to the little butler, who beamed back.

"Come on your Majesty, the Guard are waiting for us in the courtyard."

He took her hand and let her off down the corridor. They left without a backwards glance, the vampires in the throne room already forgotten.

...

Jake wasn't sleeping well. When he woke from restless dreams it was long past dark and for a moment he didn't know where he was. The ladies hadn't come to read to them tonight, they'd been tucked in by the funny little mint man and he was nice too but Jake wanted his ladies, he wanted to hear stories about good heroes and gallant knights and beautiful princesses in towers. Nobody had even sung to him all day and he was really quite annoyed about that. The dark lady always sang to them, even if it was a sad song.

Finn was snoring beside him and rolled away with an annoyed grunt when Jake tried to prod him awake. The wind was louder than usual outside the bedroom window and the shadows on the ceiling seemed like they could almost be monsters waving their arms at him, stretching their mouths open to show their teeth. Jake whimpered with fear and snuggled against Finn's warm back. Where were the ladies? The pretty pink lady usually lit a night light for them and filled the nursery with softly glowing stars and rainbows but tonight the minty man had been preoccupied and forgotten about it. He'd petted Jake's head when he tucked him in but there weren't any goodnight kisses and now there was no night light and no story and no singing and there were monsters on the ceiling instead of stars-

His wail of sadness woke Finn who sat up and stared at him blearily before opening his mouth and joining in too. He didn't know why he was crying but his brother was sad and that wasn't a nice thing to wake up to. It was too dark! And Jake was crying, he didn't want Jake to be sad and loud when it was too dark and sounded strange outside.

A black shape loomed over the cradle and Jake let out a little scream of terror that changed to a strange gurgle and then a squeak as he finally recognized the figure.

"Daddy!" he screamed happily, stretching out his arms to grab at Joshua's face and hat."Daddydaddydaddydaddy!" Jake had missed his Dad so much!

But as Joshua leaned into the cradle to pick up his son Jake saw his face and saw his eyes and something was very wrong in the way he looked. Jake was afraid again because he suddenly remembered the dark lady saying his Daddy was ill and he shouldn't see him. He looked ill; his eyes were rolling and his smile was weirdly stretched, like invisible hands were pulling his face.

"Da?" Jake whispered, clutching his baby blanket tightly and backing away as far as he could.

"Hello baby boy. Your Mom and I are going for a walk. Will you and your friend come and see the wizard, my lovely little baby boy?"

Jake craned his neck and stared all around the room. Mom wasn't there, hadn't been there for a while now, every time Daddy had talked about her she wasn't there. Jake didn't think she was really coming back.

Joshua's voice was a woozy croon, it was as though he'd forgotten how to speak normally. His words peaked and flowed in strange places and it sounded to Jake like he was trying to sing to a tune he didn't know. Finn was staring at him open mouthed and holding his chubby little fists up in front of his face like he could somehow keep Joshua back from his brother. But the big Dog just laughed and swept them both up into his arms, carrying them out of the nursery and down the darkened hall with a few swift strides.

There were dark shapes on the floor and they looked to Jake just like the banana men who walked around outside their room a lot. He smelled mushy fruit and syrup on his Dad's paws. The men on the floor didn't move and Joshua didn't stop to talk to them. Once he kicked one of them out of the way and Jake gasped in horror; the nice pink lady had told them it was only ok to kick the bad men!

"We're gonna have a tea party." Joshua told the children as he walked. "And you'll be the special guests! Gotta keep you safe at your party, boys."

Finn had recovered enough to begin struggling. His little fists beat uselessly against Joshua's chest and he was yelling as loudly as he could. Joshua just shifted him to a more firm grip and wrapped his paw around the boy's mouth.

"None of that! We're going for a surprise, you can't be loud! Little boys who don't behave don't get any of my special steak cake." And then Joshua laughed and it was a terrible sound, not at all like the father Jake remembered. Finn whimpered miserably and reached out for Jake's paw.

As soon as the night air slapped against his face Finn knew all the way down to his bones that he was in serious trouble. He'd not been outside of the palace without one of the ladies in longer than he could remember and Jake's dad was being really weird. But Finn still remembered his lessons from before the dark lady had found him. There was no use crying when nobody would come to help. He whimpered miserably and wrapped his arms around himself, wishing bitterly that he'd brought his teddy bear. He shivered despite the warm summer's night.

Joshua strode into the darkness with the two little boys, all the while keeping up a bright stream of chatter to Margaret who walked next to him in her Sunday best and smiled lovingly at Jake. He was taking them to see the man who could make them safe, being the dad little Jake deserved.


	18. Chapter 18

**Another pretty dark one, I'm afraid. It will get lighter. Review if the mood takes you. As I've said numerous times it makes my world a bright and beautiful place when you leave reviews and I literally do hide under my blankets to read them.**

 **Content warning: physical injury, much blood, mental illness, murder, character death.**

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 _Keep going. One foot in front of the other. Keep walking. Ignore the pain. Ignore it._

 _You don't feel pain any more. You don't bleed. And you don't feel that awful weight tied up in your skirts. Just keep going. Keep walking._

 _Feel that pulse? That's your heartbeat reminding you that you're still alive. It circulates blood around your body and it keeps your internal organs bathed in essential nutrients and oxygen and it tastes- ok, stop thinking about blood. You're not going to be sick. No pain. No blood in your mouth._

 _Keep going._

Bonnibel's thoughts spiralled chaotically around her clouded mind as she stumbled almost blindly through the dark tangle of undergrowth. How long had she been walking? Where was she now? The forest at night was a whole different world of instinctive fear; she'd never enjoyed being out alone in the dark and now every tiny noise caused fresh waves of panic to bubble through her, she felt like there were a million hungry eyes watching her from the trees. Pain burned dully all the way up to her left shoulder and instinctively she tried clench her fist to try to ease it before remembering that her hand was now a cold pale lump of flesh tied up in her top skirt to keep it clean.

It would probably reattach, maybe. She hoped so anyway. Because if she only had her right hand then she couldn't bathe Finn and Jake and she couldn't work in her lab as efficiently and- since she was fairly sure she was about to die anyway so lady like decorum could fucking just go to hell- she couldn't do all the intimate and wonderful things she wanted to do with Marceline if she only had one hand. Bonnie needed that hand. It had to reattach.

 _Yes, that's a good thing to think about. Marcy. And maybe a picnic together, with their boys. Somewhere quiet with plenty of shade so she can run around with them, they'll be so happy. Perhaps she'll let you braid flowers into her hair and fix her make up. And you can take the boys away for a little while, just the four of you, spend some quality time together. Can you really believe you bit your own hand off to escape?_

 _No no no don't think about that-_

And the cycle began again. It was impossible to ignore it for more than a couple of minutes at a time. She'd thought that she knew her own limits but clearly she was wrong. Bonnibel Bubblegum was actually the kind of woman who would rip her own hand off with her teeth because of responsibility and sacrifice and doing the right thing. And it turned out she wasn't the sort of princess who would sit around waiting to be rescued either, not when the balance of risk was on the side of not being rescued at all. Not when her family were in danger, not when she was going to be used against them. The jauntily dressed demon had called her 'bait', she may be concussed but she wasn't stupid. Every step was agony, the cat demon had left a massive tangle of bruising across Bonnie's abdomen that screamed in protest with every movement but she didn't dare stop, couldn't stop for even a second. The terror drove her forward. Images of the cat demon's eyes and claws and yellow teeth flashed through her mind and spurred her to ignore the pain and keep going.

She tried to call for The Morrow, thinking that if she was close enough to the palace perhaps her beloved falcon would hear her and come to her aid. But her mouth was too dry and nothing came out but a pathetic gasp. _Ok, first thing I'll do when I have time is train The Morrow to a whistle and make sure to carry one at all times. And a flash light. Because yes it's dark but I should be able to see the moon at least._

She knew there were no clouds. She'd not seen any when she'd first stumbled out of the hole in the ground that led to her kidnappers' hideout, it had been a perfectly clear starry evening with a waning gibbous moon high above the treetops. But now everything was abnormally dark even for the depth of night. With a sinking heart Bonnie realised her vision was turning black; she must have lost too much blood, first from the deep gash she'd inflicted on her own shoulder to leave a trail and then from biting through her wrist. It was still bleeding, it had seeped through the wadded makeshift bandage she'd ripped from the bottom of her skirts almost immediately and she'd not stopped to wrap it more tightly, too scared to stay still for more than a couple of seconds in case the demons caught up with her, hurt her beyond what she could take this time.

Bonnibel stumbled forward across something unexpected in the dark thickness of undergrowth and the whole world tilted drunkenly until the ground leapt up and slammed hard against her injured shoulder, forcing fresh waves of white hot agony along her arm from her ruined stump when she instinctively reached out to catch herself and ground the wound against the earth. Bonnie tried to stand up again, she really did. But her legs were alarmingly weak and they just trembled feebly when she commanded them to move, her stomach clenching in agony whenever she tried to uncurl.

 _Stand up and walk. You are not going to die here._

But no matter how she berated herself she couldn't do it, couldn't stand. She tried to lift herself off the ground with her less painful arm but her legs wouldn't get underneath her and take her weight, she was stuck curled into the foetal position around her ruined wrist with shaking limbs too weak to support herself on.

 _Maybe you are going to die here then. At least the demons don't get the satisfaction of torturing you to death. Do you know how much you can take before they break you? Do you know your own limits?_

Time passed, she had no idea how much. The world grew steadily darker and she noticed that the flow of blood from her stump seemed to ease. Perhaps she'd bled out. From one second to another she expected something to hurtle out of the blackness and rip her apart, there were wolves and all kinds of terrible things that slunk around the forest at night. She squeezed her eyes shut, they were practically useless anyway now. Time to make peace with the world while she still had the chance, time to say her goodbyes. She whispered quietly to herself, all her regrets and all her unfulfilled dreams, all the things she knew she needed to get off her chest to avoid the aching loneliness of coming back as a ghost. Confessing, for want of a better word. Lying in the dark waiting to die.

"...I'm sorry for the things I've done wrong, the people I've hurt. Sorry I couldn't save Margaret and Jermaine, sorry for not seeing sooner that Joshua needed help to deal with his grief. Sorry for what happened to Shoko, that I didn't see sooner that she was being manipulated, that I couldn't save her. I've done a lot of things wrong in my life. I'm especially sorry for the way I treated Marcy, hid her and took her for granted, pretended she meant nothing to me. Acted like I was ashamed of her..."

Something moved way off in the distance and she paused, straining her ears to catch the noise again. Maybe it was the demons again but she couldn't shake the feeling that it was Death, coming to take her to the Dead World. She hadn't felt it but she supposed she must have died while she was busy talking to herself.

Bonnie heard it long before she saw it. Death was apparently quite noisy, tramping towards her through the undergrowth and murmuring in a confusing mix of low voices. For a few long seconds she thought she was seeing those awful golden eyes blinking at her, thought perhaps the cat demon had followed her into the next world just to torture her again, but then she realise that Death also carried torches because little spots of golden light were flaring blotchily in the blackness in front of her and flickering hazily on and off. It took her fevered brain an age to work out that they were weaving between branches, blocked momentarily from her feeble vision by the trees rather than winking in and out of existence. But as the noises drew closer and she squinted towards the lights she realised that she'd not been aware at all that Death had such a lovely face. That was both a shock and a comfort. Death was like some sort of magnificent dark angel, all high cheekbones and full round lips, horrified eyes taking in her humiliating position and now streaking across the distance between them to loom close and fill her vision with that terribly beautiful face. She must be hallucinating, because Death looked very much like a stressed and panicked Marceline followed by the Honour Guard and Peppermint Butler. But she was dead, she must be. Bonnie stared at them, not understanding what was happening. She'd made her peace with Death, it must be Death that had come to find her.

"Bonnie? Oh Grod, I'm so sorry- you're hurt! And alive, which obviously I'm glad of too- what happened?"

The words took an age to filter into her brain, untangle and make their meaning clear. Marcy had found her, then? So, not dead yet after all. And Bonnie held up her bloody stump proudly because she knew she'd done the right thing and now she probably wasn't going to die after all so it was kind of ironic that she'd gnawed through her own wrist, really if she thought about it she could just be sick with the irony of it all. Marceline said something loud and shocked and probably containing a pretty high percentage of swear words but Bonnibel didn't hear it because she was seized by nausea, rolling up from her stomach and down across her chest in a hot wave of blood. Blood from her stump, blood from her internal injuries, soaking her in a foulness that she so desperately wanted to escape from.

And then the world spun chaotically again and she was soaring over the treetops tucked securely in Marceline's strong arms. She reached up to pet Marcy's poor face because her love looked so sad. She didn't need to be sad though because everything was going to be fine and she'd braid flowers into her lovely hair. There was something really important she needed to tell the other woman, something about a man with her dad's eyes, about their boys, about how she really didn't want a cat any more. Something important, but her brain wouldn't bring it to the surface right now and she was struggling to stay awake, she smelled her own blood and her chest was warm with it and sleep was so tempting. Marcy looked like she was going to cry again and that was the worst; Bonnie remembered enough to know that Marceline hated crying more than anything else in the world, hated that outward sign of weakness. That was important too, not to cry. No crying, don't make a noise. No bleeding, bleeding was bad too, right? Blood. So much blood.

"Don't be sad. I'm responsible. M'a sacrifice." Bonnie slurred.

"Shhh. We're nearly home. Save your strength babe, it's gonna be ok." Marceline replied. And her expression was so tender and so anxious that Bonnie really believed her.

"Marcy?"

"Yeah?"

"...m'sorry. Treated you bad."

...

All Doctor Princess had ever wanted since she was a little girl was to be a world famous doctor and to look after the health of Ooo's rich and famous, especially when they were in tough situations and she was the only one who could save them. She was trying hard to remind herself of that as she blearily followed an enraged Vampire Queen from her guest chamber at the palace to the makeshift hospital room only recently vacated by Emerald Rainicorn. Marceline had very nearly put her fist through the Doctor's door and screamed something garbled about the princess, it was a little hard to follow when she'd been deeply asleep a moment before.

But now she was very much wide awake, the lateness of the hour completely forgotten. Because there was her old friend Princess Bubblegum propped up semi conscious and covered in deep lacerations and far too much of her own blood with the vampire's habitual plaid shirt soaked in more of that blood and wrapped around her left wrist, a wrist that ended obviously shorter than it had previously.

The doctor swore. She didn't make a habit of using foul language but this was beyond anything she'd expected. She'd figured perhaps the princess had a fever or a minor injury when Marceline had come battering down her door and yelling at her to get up and follow. It was lucky that she was even still at the palace now that Emerald was fit for hero duty again.

"Nurse Poundcake! We need four units of universal syrup blood, stat!" she yelled, hurrying around the bed to lay Bubblegum flat and gingery unwrap her gory wrist. The little square nurse bustled in from the store room and in her usual unflappable way pulled out an IV bag of thick dark pink blood and hung it on a stand by the bed.

"Just a little pinch." Nurse Poundcake muttered and deftly slid a cannula into the princess' uninjured arm. Looking into her dazed face the doctor felt certain she hadn't even noticed. Nurse Poundcake hooked the IV bag to the tube and the thick dark pink blood began to drip steadily down into the princess's veins. In a couple of hours she'd have recovered from the worst of the blood loss at least.

Doctor Princess was already examining the stump. It was fairly clean given that the princess appeared to have had her hand removed at the wrist with teeth rather than a blade. The doctor repressed a shudder at how that circumstance might have arisen, at glob-knew-when o'clock of the morning with her pet vampire in tow. Really, if they'd been doing something distasteful she'd just as soon not know the details. With any luck the hand would reattach with only minimal nerve damage.

"Can you fix her? Please, you've got to help, can you sew it back on?"

Instead of answering Marceline she took the severed hand from where her Majesty cradled it in her lap and gently unfolded the fingers. The flesh was cool but not too pale, definitely worth trying a reattachment.

"Hey! Doctor, please! Can you do it?"

"Would someone please get this panicky vampire out of here?" she yelled, stepping around Marceline to her medicine cabinet and pulling out painkillers and anaesthetics.

She snapped a surgical mask in place and began to carefully wash the hand clean of blood residue as the rest of the princess's hero guard stomped into the room, coaxing and then when that failed forcefully manhandling Marceline away and out of the door. Doctor Princess heaved a sigh of relief behind her mask. It wasn't that she didn't like the vampire- well okay if she was completely honest it was a bit, she wasn't wild about Marceline- but distressed relatives yelling at her and getting in the way was not conducive to a safe operating theatre. And what might have been happening to cause the princess to lose a hand... well vampires had a reputation for being rough lovers but that was just beyond the pale.

"Ok Bonnibel. I'm going to numb your arm and sew your hand back on. It should reattach fine but I don't want you to make a habit of getting your limbs bitten off, ok? You're lucky that you're made of sugar or this would be a whole lot more difficult." Doctor Princess said with a tired smile. Bubblegum just looked at her with unfocussed eyes and smiled distantly. Her mouth was streaked with dried flaking blood, only the doctor's long practice of professional detachment kept her from looking away.

"Nurse Poundcake, could you strip her and wash the blood away please? I don't want her to be uncomfortable once she's recovered her senses."

The little nurse set about cutting away the dirty dress and sponging the blood stains from the princess' skin. After a few minutes she stopped and made a small noise of shock. That in itself was enough to draw the doctor's attention away from her reattachment; Nurse Poundcake was generally not surprised by anything.

"There are half-healed wounds on her shoulder, Doctor. Puncture wounds, spaced about a mouth width apart."

They were there alright, on her right shoulder, not the one that still had small shards of broken glass stuck in it. Bubblegum had fallen into a light doze when the anaesthetics began to take effect which was probably a good thing because given the state she was in Doctor Princess would have been quite mortified for her friend if she'd said something unfortunate about the bite marks. She slated it up to one more thing to dislike the vampire for and something she'd have a quiet word with her friend about when she was feeling better. She expected the princess would ignore her advice but she was bound by her medical oath to give it anyway. But the puncture wounds were carefully placed away from any major arteries and made with a near surgical precision, unlike the messy slashes covering her face and neck. Something a lot less careful than her vampire lover had caused those injuries. The doctor took a moment to re-evaluate her initial assumption that what she was dealing with was a kinky sex injury.

"So I guess it's true that she's indecent with that vampire then? I can't say I approve." Nurse Poundcake said with a sour frown.

"Whether it's true or not is irrelevant. Something else caused these injuries. And it's not our place to judge what goes on behind closed doors." Doctor Princess replied with her eyes back on her work. Micro sutures required all her concentration.

"Well yes but-"

"That's my last word on the subject, Nurse. Swab, please."

They finished the surgery in tense silence, Nurse Poundcake radiating resentment. Doctor Princess refused to be drawn on the subject of who her friend may or may not be sleeping with; just because she disapproved didn't mean the princess wasn't capable of making her own choices about who she took as her lover. At least Marceline looked after her.

...

With all the drama of finding the princess and dragging Marceline quite literally kicking and screaming out of her sick room Eagle Mask had not spared a second thought to the Banana Guards she'd hurriedly assigned to watch Joshua when they'd rushed out of the palace with the search party. When Doctor Princess tiredly announced they could see the princess after a couple of agonisingly long hours she drifted away instead, intent on picking up the rest of her watch duty and seeing if she couldn't get any more information out of the old Dog.

She was distantly relieved that they'd found Bubblegum and that she would heal from her injuries, but it just seemed too easy. Like whoever had kidnapped her didn't even really mean it, hadn't taken the time to ensure she didn't escape. That made Eagle nervous. It could just be more poor planning on the part of their mysterious enemy or it could be a deliberate sleight of hand, it was infuriating not to know.

It wasn't a long walk to the dungeons but Eagle stopped in the kitchen first, she'd missed dinner and one of the things she'd had ample opportunity to learn as she aged was never to pass up the chance of a hot meal.

No Banana men were watching the gently bubbling pot as she helped herself to a bowl of stew, which was a little odd because they usually helped out around the place when they weren't on duty. After a moment's consideration Eagle shrugged, she'd foisted extra duties onto them tonight so it wasn't surprising that they'd be too busy for watching the kitchen. She blew across the steaming stew and took a careful sip before continuing on her way, ignoring with long practice the dull pulsing ache where a knife had entered her thigh years ago. She barely even noticed the limp any more.

Eagle found that as she grew older she was more often caught up in recollection like that. Her eldest son Caleb had recently ascended to chief of his Viking tribe and she was remembering the first time they'd placed him in her arms, wailing at the top of his lungs with his little purple face still scrunched and damp. He looked exactly as if someone had knitted a little doll of Olgar and she'd said as much to her husband when she had finally managed to rip her eyes away from her son's tiny perfect face. In all their years together she'd seen Olgar cry maybe five times and the day he'd first become a father was one of them.

Smiling to herself as she recalled Caleb and his sister Astrid the time they first rode a pony she almost missed the subtle change in the air as she entered the dungeon. But Eagle was not a veteran of a thousand adventures for nothing. Her eyes snapped back to the present and with a low curse she took in the scene before her.

One Banana Guard was mashed almost all the way through the bars of the cell, his key chain still stuck in the door. The other was lying in a puddle of syrup with his own spear stuck through his throat, eyes glassy and blank. At least he'd not suffered; that wound would have been near instantly fatal.

Joshua's cell stood open and empty. Without even checking to see if she guard stuck into the bars was still alive Eagle turned on her heel and fled back to the stairs, stew bowl flung hastily behind her. There were more dead guards on the staircase, the service one that lead up into the palace proper and eventually directly to the guest chambers, the princess's private suite and the nursery. Eagle's blood ran cold at the thought. Perhaps she wasn't too late? She'd stashed her sword Navigator when she re-entered the palace, all she was carrying now was her hunting knife and what powers the enchanted mask granted her. It wouldn't be enough against a seasoned warrior like Joshua but perhaps she could buy them some time before he cut her down too-

She stumbled around the top of the staircase and down the dark hallway, skidding to a halt around the open door. The nursery was just as empty as the cell had been.

"No." Eagle breathed, steadying herself on the door frame. Her vision tunnelled towards the empty cradle, swirling and tilting with horror.

And in a heartbeat she knew what must have happened. Why they'd all been drawn away from the palace that night. The only person Marceline would have left the palace for without even thinking was Bubblegum, the one person that before she was snatched had not been targeted so had not been given any extra security. And they'd found her easily, whoever had taken her had either been too sloppy to guard her or too busy to worry about it. So she'd been bait, to lure them away from the palace and leave the boys defenceless. And Joshua, she just couldn't believe he'd been in on it from the start, not when the plot was against his own son too. So that just left what? That he was being controlled somehow.

Like the mind control Billy had warned them the Lich sometimes used. They'd forgotten, assuming he'd lost his faculties. Eagle's stomach rolled and she nearly lost the few mouthfuls of stew she'd eaten. How long had Joshua been gone? They'd been out for hours, and then another hour or two waiting to see if the princess's hand could be saved. It was nearly sunrise now, a major blow when their best tracker was fatally sensitive to the daylight. They didn't even know where Joshua had taken the boys.

Eagle turned and hurried back towards the hospital room, knowing that no matter what else she needed to be with the rest of her companions, needed her husband's strong arms around her shoulders. Because she was now going to have to tell two grief stricken parents that their infant sons had been snatched away by a mad man when she'd personally sworn her life to protect them.

...

Oh Margaret looked so beautiful in the moonlight, just like the night they'd first met at his brother's wedding. Joshua smiled at her and she smiled back, blowing him a kiss and giggling a little when he made to snatch it out of the air. It had been so long since they'd enjoyed each other's company on a starry night, it made his heart ache to think of it.

And the babies where finally asleep, they'd drifted off into a fitful slumber as he walked through the forest. It wasn't far to the Dark Majesty's cavern but he took the scenic route, enjoying the night air and the feeling of soft earth under his paws after so long inside. The little human had stopped struggling and was either asleep or suckling on his thumb quietly. It made no difference so long as he wasn't wriggling around or crying out for that thrice damned vampire bitch; Joshua had been certain that his screams would bring her flying and he'd be forced to cut her down like he'd tried last time. His demon blood sword had nearly decapitated her, the look on her face when he'd felt his blade slide into the slight resistance of her flesh had been a bizarrely satisfying thing to see.

"Joshua, we shouldn't keep the Dark Majesty waiting." Margaret murmured, sliding her paw against his arm. He couldn't feel it but perhaps it was just because of the cool air, he must be more chilled than he'd thought despite how warm the summer was. He nodded regretfully and tramped after her through the undergrowth, marvelling at the perfect silence and grace his wife moved with. Everything was better so long as she was there.

Two shadowy figures were waiting for them in a small clearing up ahead. One looked like a tall man rakishly dressed, the other was some kind of cat. Joshua's nose twitched; no Dogs were fond of cats. But this was where Margaret had lead him so the cat must be an agent of the man who would make his son safe. His beautiful little Jake frowned and turned over restlessly in his sleep and Joshua smiled, so lost in love for his little family.

"Hello Joshua." the cat purred, "You certainly took your time. And is this little Jacob? Well he's just so sweet, what a little hero."

The tall man elbowed the cat woman sharply at that and she hissed and lashed her tail angrily. Something about the way she said 'hero' made a deep part of Joshua's mind coil back, searching for something long forgotten. But he couldn't place it and Margaret was whispering to him again that he should be respectful to Dark Majesty's agents. Joshua bowed reluctantly, still trying to figure out what should have been bothering him about these strangers.

Margaret whispered not to worry about it. With a shrug Joshua agreed; his wife had always been the brains of the operation. The tall man was staring impatiently at him and Joshua got the feeling he wasn't going to be a straightforward person to deal with.

"To ensure the boys' safety we'll need to bring them to Dark Majesty alone." he said, staring directly into the Dog's eyes with his unnerving gaze. When the moonlight caught the man's face his wide eyes glowed weirdly green, similar to how the vampire's had when he'd caught up with her at the market. Joshua had been genuinely frightened of her that day; nothing but worry for his son could have made him approach her like that. She'd looked fierce, angry. Like she could have sucked the life out of him right there in front of the whole crowd just for daring to speak her name.

Joshua hesitated.

"Stop wasting time and give him the children, Joshua." Margaret snapped at him, pawing the air in frustration. She'd made to grab at his arm but somehow her paw had passed right through his flesh, he'd seen it with his own eyes.

Something shifted in Joshua's mind. Margaret was shimmering with an unreal light, she'd not spoken a word to anyone but him no matter how solid and real she'd appeared. Why hadn't she told Marceline that she was still present when they were in her cave? Ghosts and vampires were natural allies, Marceline would have understood. Why hadn't she just freed him from his prison herself? Joshua clutched the babes close to his chest and shivered, staring around himself. It was madness to be out in the woods in the small hours of the morning meeting what appeared to be demons with two defenceless children and the shadowy vision of his dead wife-

"Fuck, he's slipping!" the cat demon - _a fucking Grimmalk!_ his horrified brain supplied- was yelling to the tall demon who was advancing on him with his dangerous eyes flashing. Much more dangerous than Marceline had ever been, actually. She'd never looked like she was a second away from ripping this throat out, she'd always been careful not to physically threaten anyone even when she was angry. Margaret was dissolving into the air like so much smoke and Joshua smelled sweet sticky blood on his paws. Suddenly he could remember everything he'd done with agonising clarity, Glob he'd murdered the guards!

But there was no time for regret. Quick as his shaking paws could be forced he shifted Jake to his left arm and drew his demon blood sword. The tall demon was growling and showing his fangs, it had to be now while he was still displaying his aggression-

Joshua lunged forwards quick as a snake and buried his sword right up to the hilt into the demon's gut with a sickening crunch. Demon blood blades were especially useful for killing the very demons they were made from and the tall man was already beginning to smoke from his wound, staggering back with a strange gurgling noise. Joshua had just enough time to realise the Grimmalk wasn't in his line of sight then something slim and cold burst out through his chest. _Lucky it missed the boys_ , he thought before he fell to his knees, staring down at the thin blade sticking right through him.

"Shame about Ralquinn, I was rather enjoying fucking him." the Grimmalk said causally as she plucked the now wailing babies from his weak arms. "Do hurry up and die, Joshua."

She kicked him over onto his side and strode off through the trees, leaving the old Dog lying behind her with her dagger stuck straight through his back.


	19. Chapter 19

**And so we move closer to the conclusion of this story arc. But! It's not over yet, and I have sequels planned. In fact I've nearly finished the first sequel, Continuum, so that'll probably be getting posted not long after Foundlings is complete. Also working on a couple of longer real world AUs, what do you guys think? Is that something you'd read? Let me know, either in the reviews section or as a PM ^^**

 **Content Warning: feels, dead people, harm against children.**

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It was so tempting to force her heart to start beating again just so she could have the comfort of feeling it hammer wildly against her ribs. It would hurt and it would necessitate breathing and remembering how to make blood circulate and a whole host of other bodily functions that she hadn't needed to consciously use in years but it just might help take away some of the crushing fear and anger eating through her guts.

She forced herself to be still and to let a few useless breaths out from between her clenched fangs. Counted to ten slowly and then backwards for good measure. Calm and clear and _not_ erupting into a winged hell beast of terrifying fury because that was childish and destructive and totally the opposite of the things she wanted to be right now.

"Marceline, I am coming with you!"

Although it might have helped calm her just a little bit to better deal with Bonnie. The princess was not completely throwing a temper tantrum but it wasn't far off; her face was flushed and her hair splayed crazily around her head still with twigs and leaves stuck in it from where Marcy had scooped her off the forest floor hours earlier. She just wasn't used to being told 'no'. No, you almost bled to death earlier tonight so you need to stay here with some medical attention, no you're not coming with us to rescue the children because you're too ill and too weak and too much of a distraction. _No, I can't lose you too._

Worse still that they were wasting precious minutes arguing instead of being out there searching. Marceline could have ripped her hair out in frustration, her boys were out there somewhere and here everyone was just standing around _fucking talking about looking for them_. But if she left to search alone now she knew she'd never be welcome back, even if she somehow managed to find the children. Bonnie had never dealt well with being walked out on and in this situation Marceline couldn't justify even thinking about it. But every second she stayed in the palace trying to convince her lover to let her go alone was another second when something unspeakable could be happening to Finn and Jake. Every angle she looked from something unthinkably terrible would happen. It was enough to make her want to tear at her own skin, yell at someone, anything but just stand there calmly and discuss the details of the search effort.

Marceline took another deep steady breath that she didn't really need and pushed the panic down as hard as she could. She had to be responsible, deal with the problem in front of her before she could begin with the rest of it. _Damn, I think I finally grew up_. There was no humour to the thought whatsoever.

She shook her head frustratedly and tried to wrap her arms around Bonnie's shoulders. She wanted so badly to rage and scream but for the first time in her long life Marceline was trying as hard as she knew how to seriously consider the consequences of her actions. She didn't know what they were going to do but at least she did know that she needed to stay strong for Bonnibel. But the princess pulled away from her and resumed angrily pacing the hospital room, ripping the cannula out of the back of her right hand with a frustrated growl when it tugged painfully. The syrup blood must have been fast acting because Bonnibel was on her feet and almost back to full strength within an hour of coming around from her surgery, although it was probably also the effects of the adrenaline and whatever pain killers and other medicine Doctor Princess had injected her with when Eagle had first burst into the room with the terrible news.

She had been mostly lucid again but now looked half mad with worry, eyes skittering nervously around the room and hands wringing together in panic. The cuts on her face were clean and a lot less ragged thanks to a topical sugar paste and a couple of small neat stitches but her reattached hand was still pale and Marceline suspected that she'd be lucky to regain full feeling in it if she kept squeezing the fingers like she was trying to break them.

"Your Majesties? If I may interject?"

Peppermint Butler might have been made of sugar but Marceline suspected his balls must actually be precision engineered steel when he calmly stepped forward with a little bow and began to speak. Bonnie whirled around to him with her face twisted in rage and he didn't even flinch, just stood there calmly and waited for her growl to die down before he continued talking.

"It would be beneficial for all concerned parties if the princess were to accompany Marceline today. Because we now know she's also a target of whomever is behind these kidnappings and we simply don't have the manpower to form a serious guard for her and to search the Kingdom for the little princes at the same time. It is my opinion that right now nowhere is safer than with the queen and the Honour Guard. Besides, her Majesty may prove useful in discovering the missing children even if fighting is quite out of the question."

Marceline opened her mouth to argue, took a breath and closed it again with an audible click. Her thoughts whirred painfully through her brain, trying to reconcile the obvious logic to her own conflicted feelings.

Because the little white and red striped man was right, if she left Bonnie in the palace and anything happened to her then she'd be responsible for leaving her alone and unguarded twice and she didn't think she'd be able to live with that. And because no matter how her new found sense of responsibility wanted to keep her lover safe she also selfishly wanted her close by, too. It hurt to be separated when she was so terrified for their boys, she wasn't sure how long she could maintain this sensible adult act alone.

Something on Marceline's face must have given her away because within a few moments Bonnie was shooing everyone out of the room and digging around for something more dignified than a medical gown to change into. Marceline hung her head, defeated. She had no more fight left in her, worry and fear had robbed her of her strength and deep down she knew she had selfish reasons for not wanting to win this argument anyway.

She'd caved, after all her good intentions about keeping Bonnie safe and being responsible. The moment she'd pushed hard enough Marcy had just caved and given in. It should fill her with shame but there was too much panic coiling through her guts like she'd swallowed live snakes, her other feelings were distant and stifled. Perhaps, if she really thought about it, this was being responsible too? A small part of her mind that spoke in Simon's calm quiet voice reminded her that she was one of the most powerful beings in Ooo and that she was backed up by a whole guard of heroes and her own hand picked vampire escorts. Perhaps Peppermint Butler was right. Very few places could be more safe than where she was.

"Let's go find our boys." Bonnibel said, ripping Marceline's attention back to the present. She'd dressed in unusually dark practical clothes and despite Peppermint's earlier warning was tucking a sheathed pair of curved daggers into her belt. Her left hand was still pale and obviously painful but she brushed aside Marceline's concerned frown.

"If you get hurt..." Marcy let the words trail off and hang in the air in front of them. She didn't really know how to finish that sentence anyway. Bonnie stared at her intensely for a second then took a deep steadying breath of her own before replying.

"If I get hurt then it will be fighting for you and our family. It will be my responsibility, not yours. Please love, I need you to let me help. I can't be alone here when you're going into danger."

She leaned in and Marceline let her press a chaste kiss against her lips, letting out a small sigh and resting her forehead against her beloved's as her cool hands grasped blindly forward to grip her arms.

"Don't you dare fucking die on me, ok? I'm barely keeping it together as it is." the vampire murmured, eyes tightly closed against the barely restrained tears of terror that threatened to spill down her face. Because angry Bonnie was difficult to deal with but vulnerable sacrificing Bonnie brought all kinds of painful old emotions swirling to the surface along with all the horror and anger already rippling through her. She wouldn't let the tears fall.

"I wish I could make that promise." the princess replied quietly.

...

Despite the warmth of the morning and the thick woollen coat wrapped tight around her shoulders Bonnibel couldn't stop violently shivering. The strong pain killers were beginning to wear off; she was secretly glad Marceline had insisted on carrying her while they searched and despite her token argument for appearance's sake she'd snuggled up eagerly into those inhumanly strong arms when they swept out of the courtyard and spread out into the forest. It was embarrassing how weak she still was despite the extra blood and the concentrated syrup shots she'd received. But waiting alone in the palace, not knowing if her family was alive or dead, that was absolutely unthinkable. And somehow she was scared to be alone, irrationally afraid that at any moment the cat demon would come crashing in through a window and hurt her again.

Marceline had rounded up her Royal Guards, wrenching the doors of the throne room open and barking at them to get dressed. They'd snapped to attention, humour instantly wiped from their expressions as they took in the seriousness of their queen's tone. And of course they were utterly shameless at being caught napping naked in front of the Honour Guard. Then the whole crowd had left, tramping out into the woods to follow the only leads they had; the blood trail she'd left from her broken window last night and the faint scent trail Joshua had left which was already badly faded by the breeze. Vampires might have no shame but they were crucial to the search; both girls had immediately shape shifted into huge hairy wolves and started tracking. Their unnaturally thick coats protecting them from the worst of the sun's damage. Marceline had grabbed her hat and gloves from where she'd stashed them behind the throne but it still made Bonnie wince in sympathy whenever a small patch of uncovered delicate grey skin came into direct contact with the sunlight and she heard the faint crackle of blisters erupting.

Emerald swirled overhead, vainly scanning the forest floor but finding it frustratingly difficult to peer through the thick cotton candy foliage. Olgar, Billy and Eagle Mask had spread out in a wide curve to cover more ground. Bonnie could hear them hack desperately at the undergrowth as they searched for the hidden entrance to the subterranean bunker she'd stumbled out of the night before. Because it wasn't much of a chance but it was the only lead they had, perhaps whoever had taken their children was stupid enough to keep them in the same place Bonnie had escaped from.

She felt Marceline's entire body stiffen at the exact same moment the vampire wolves froze to unnatural stillness, eyes wide and nostrils suddenly flaring. Before she could ask what was wrong Olgar's hunting horn flared somewhere off to the left and without warning they were streaking through the trees dizzyingly, dodging trunks and branches that blurred together with the speed of their flight.

And just as abruptly they came to a standstill in a small clearing. Bonnie's stomach lurched dangerously at the instant deceleration and she looked to her lover to see why they'd stopped, but Marceline's horrified face wasn't turned to her. Slowly, dreading what she might see, Bonnibel followed her gaze across the clearing to where Billy was kneeling at the base of a tree, grief written large all over his ageing face.

Joshua the Dog lay dead in a pool of congealing blood, a wicked twisted dagger thrust straight through his back with the tip sticking out through his chest. His face was frozen into a mask of shock and his arms were reaching forward as though he were still grasping at his murderer. Jake's baby blanket lay next to the body, mercifully clean of the blood that stained the ground and thickened the air with a sick, coppery tang.

"Joshua, you stupid, stupid Dog." Marceline breathed as she gently lowered Bonnie to the ground and came forward to her fallen friend.

She knelt by his side and carefully tugged the dagger out of the wound in the dead Dog's back, throwing it across the clearing with a look of disgust. With total disregard to the harsh sunlight filtering through the candy leaves overhead she slid her gloves off and reached forward to Joshua's cold face. With a shiver Marceline slid his eyelids closed and bowed her head for a moment.

"He fought at the end. Much good it did him, but he fought them."

"We have to go. Marcy, we can't do more for him now." It ached to be the voice of reason when all she wanted was to hold her mourning lover, but Bonnie couldn't find too much space in her heart to be sorry for Joshua right now. She was too busy being consumed with fear for his son, fear of what the cat demon could be doing to little Jake.

Marceline straightened and tugged her gloves back on, pulling a blank expressionless look across her face and nodding to the others. Olgar cleared his throat from across the glade and they turned to him, noticing for the first time the other body lying there. It was the same tall raffish demon who'd claimed kinship with Marceline and her father; now his expensively embroidered waistcoat was ruined with a gigantic burn that went right through his stomach and showed a blackened patch of ground behind where Joshua's demon blood sword stuck tip first into the scorched earth. Olgar pulled it free and wiped it carefully on his sleeve before slinging it across his back alongside his own broadsword.

"When we find little Prince Jake and he grows older, he'll want this." Olgar grunted, a stoic cast across his weathered purple features very nearly masking his sorrow. Eagle rested a hand comfortingly against his shoulder and the Honour Guard stood for a moment united in grief for their fallen comrade.

"We must go. We can't be too late, there's nothing more to be done here." the scratchy translated voice of Emerald Rainicorn pronounced. Loathe though her companions were to leave they nevertheless gathered themselves and looked back to the vampire wolves who were sitting on their heels at the edge of the clearing, tongues lolling and ignoring the gentle wisps of smoke that rose when the sunlight touched their thick fur.

"The trail leads off to the west, back towards the palace. It makes no sense." the densely furred Zoe growled from between bared teeth. "And there's a Grimmalk in the mix too; if you concentrate away from the blood its scent is all over this place."

Marceline swept Bonnie back up into her arms and squeezed her briefly, comfortingly. They followed after the vampire wolves at a swift pace, now pressed closely together into a group, each of them tensed to fight at a moment's notice.

"What's a Grimmalk?" Bonnie whispered as they flew, another shivering fit briefly turning her to jelly in Marceline's firm grip. Her lover took a moment to look her over with heavily lidded unreadable eyes before replying.

"Cat demon. They're vicious and ruthless and hated by pretty much every creature under the sky. I've killed a few of them in my time, but obviously not enough for them to get the message." Marceline replied after a long moment, fangs growing an extra fraction of an inch as she spoke. Bonnie considered that, thinking of the thing that had mauled her, tortured her and tried to rip the skin from her face.

"Oh. It was a big dark red cat thing that snatched me last night. I meant to tell you about it but then stuff happened and it didn't seem so important any more." Bonnie mumbled, resting her weary head against Marcy's shoulder to allow the coldness of her lover's skin to seep through the thin cloth between them and cool the steady pounding in her temples. The cat demon would haunt her dreams for a long time to come. Ja'an had said things to her, awful things, things she didn't want to think about. Bonnie pushed the memories from her mind and focussed instead on gripping Marceline's neck carefully, feeling the immense protective strength in that cool body.

"It wouldn't have made a difference, I already knew a Grimmalk was involved. They left prints when they torched my cave. I guarantee that it will be the last thing they'll ever do."

Her face was deadly serious, cold anger rippling away into an almost tangible aura all around her. Sweet funny Marcy was gone and in her place was Lady Abadeer, the Queen of Vampires and sole heir to the Lord of Evil. For a moment the sheer weight of the murderous fury her love was emitting took Bonnie's breath away. They both had more than a touch of darkness in their souls, it couldn't hurt to be reminded of that from time to time. Marceline would kill and die for her family without a second thought, and that included Bonnibel. It was a strangely good feeling, almost good enough to erase the memory of razor sharp claws pushing through her skin.

Marceline was many things; beautiful, talented, impish, often troubled. The thing that so many people struggled to come to terms with, the thing that made them talk in whispers as she passed by and shiver when her shadow fell across them was that she was also perfectly deadly in the right set of circumstances. Bonnibel had had plenty of opportunity to see it with her own eyes over the years but it always came as a shock to her when without warning her playful mischievous girl turned cold as ice and absolutely lethal. She shivered again because someone was going to die today at her lover's hands and she couldn't bring herself to be even a little sorry for it.

...

"Ja'an. Show me the crystal."

"Yes my Lord. It is here, it awaits only the completion of the ritual."

Bowing low towards Dark Majesty's throne Ja'an pulled an unimpressive looking dull blue crystal from a pouch where she'd held it securely in her belt. With obvious difficulty he lifted one grotesquely distorted arm and rested deadened fingers against it, making her palm tingle when they brushed her living flesh but completely failing to suck the life from her.

Dark Majesty was weakening by the hour, she could feel it. He was expending so much energy on simply keeping his fragile mimicry of a body together that his mind was beginning to crumble under its own weight. Clods of dirt and strips of broken tree roots now filled some of the gaping holes where the dark fog had previously been; it was too difficult for him to to obscure the missing parts of himself as he had before. But not for long. She grinned to herself and lifted the unobtrusive crystal higher until its blunt sides glowed faintly in the torchlight.

Ral had found the crystal, the stupid dead idiot. After tying up the princess they'd gone straight to the Crystal Dimension for the last thing their lord needed to complete his transformation. Ral had stolen it from its Rainicorn guards and spirited it here almost without detection but it hadn't been Ralquinn's style to leave every single being alive though so he'd doubled back and slit the throat of one of the young and particularly garish Rainicorns, he'd said it was just to admire the colours as they flowed all down her sobbing dying chest. Ral had appreciated the little wonders in life and for a second Ja'an was almost sad he was dead. Then she remembered he had been an idiot so she snorted to herself and recalled the shocked look on his face when that old Dog had stuck him through the stomach. Stupid dead Ral, serve him right for wasting time hissing and showing off when his opponent already had his blade in hand.

And he'd let her princess escape! Ja'an had only barely gotten a small taste of decadently sweet syrup blood when she licked her paws clean after that bitch earned a mauling; it was so sugary it made her tongue buzz. No matter, she couldn't have run far. Not if the pool of sticky pink blood on the floor of the cavern was anything to go by. The princess would almost certainly have bled to death long before she found aid out there in the woods.

Ja'an wanted to go lap up that delicious blood but Dark Majesty would not allow her to deviate from his timetable. It didn't really change Ja'an's plans though; once Dark Majesty had completed his ritual and drained the strength of the heroes she would track down the pretty pink corpse and sate herself while it was still fresh enough. She hoped she would have time to tell Lady Abadeer all about it before crushing the life out of her, too.

Humming happily to herself Ja'an carefully hung the dull crystal from a thread that dangled from the cavern ceiling and began the laborious task of pouring coloured salts onto the floor in the shape of the rune circle Ralquinn had so helpfully worked out for the ritual. It took longer than she was happy with and the little brats had begun to whimper again from inside the sack she'd tied them in for safe keeping. She snatched it up with an angry shake and snarled in the general direction of where their heads must be until the sack quieted down to a hastily stifled sob. She thrust it roughly back to the floor and continued the onerous pouring.

Ja'an was an assassin, not a common servant. So when the Dark Majesty growled that she was not taking enough care with the salt circles Ja'an snarled back without thinking and made the mistake of meeting the dark holes where his eyes used to be. The world stretched away to darkness and her Majesty stood before her, the only thing that still existed.

"I can destroy you with a thought, Ja'an. I am not as strong as I once was but you will restore me to strength. You will do this and I will spare you, for a time. Do not forget, mortal. I am the hunger that never sleeps, never dies. I am not like you, have never known warmth or affection. I have never felt anger nor regret. I exist only to extinguish life. I am truly immortal, without death. I have never been... sweet."

And she was back in the cavern, realising she had not drawn a breath in all the time he had held her entranced. Sweet precious air flooded her burning lungs and surely nothing had ever been so glorious as the simple act of breathing because she was shaking and almost crying with relief as the world ceased spinning and her head stopped feeling as though it was splitting slowly open. Distantly, behind her receding vertigo, Ja'an wondered why the Dark Majesty kept repeating that he was not sweet. He'd said it over and over since he'd first contact her.

Dark Majesty had not moved from his throne. His laboured breathing had not changed and his head had not turned towards her. He simply sat in glorious silence, surveying the half completed rune circle.

"Finish your task."

Ja'an scooped up her bags of coloured sand with her head bowed in humiliation and began pouring carefully.

Really though the salts were almost mesmerizing when she let herself stop worrying about how long it took and instead admired the colours as they swirled together into impossible shapes. Like the spectrum that had flowed out from the dying Rainicorn's throat. Soothing, even. As each rune was completed and added to the circle it glowed dully with a malevolent red light. Ja'an knew that this very method was also the same way Dark Majesty had come to them in the first place. There were many types of time travel but this was the most precise. Its precision came at a price though and now time was of the essence if they were to secure him here in his past, restore him to how he had been before his essence had merged with his future self.

The last rune finally flashed into place and with a triumphant grin she seized the bag containing the still whimpering children. As she unstrung the rope holding it closed a tiny peachy coloured fist shot out and glanced harmlessly against her hand.

"Oh look, a volunteer!" she cooed wickedly, grabbing the human boy by his little arm and pulling him roughly out of the bag. "You first, then." And she lifted Finn up towards where the blue crystal pulsed darkly.

Before she could speak the words that would begin the complete draining of his life force he looked her straight in the eye and bit down on her paw with all of his five stumpy little teeth, growling like Jake when they played tug of war with his blanket. Ja'an grunted and struggled to hold him through the unexpected pain, squeezing his ribs until he let go with a sharp wail. With one paw she gripped his little face and let her claws unsheathe from the other, savouring the anticipation of hearing him scream again.

Her heart leapt wildly into her mouth when she heard a much lower, much more dangerous growl from just behind her. It was a noise she'd heard before, all those years ago when Hunson Abadeer had pulled an enraged hell beast off her before it could rip her to pieces, then banished her to the grasslands in the next breath. Ja'an froze and slowly turned to look around, swallowing hard against her suddenly dry mouth. Only one person except for the Dark Majesty had ever both terrified her and sent her heart flying into that beautiful stuttering rhythm. And now she was staring straight into the fathomless red eyes burning in a savage face almost close enough to tilt her head across the distance and kiss. Still so terrible and so nightmarishly beautiful.

Marceline snarled again and showed a mouth full of huge razor sharp fangs.

 _"Get your filthy paws off my son, Ja'an."_


	20. Chapter 20

**Not a lot to say really. This is the critical point of this particular arc, I've rewritten this at least ten times and I really hope you like it and it all makes sense. Leave reviews, I love my reviewers so much! You guys are what makes writing so damn rewarding.**

 **Content Warning: Extreme violence, character death, story arc conclusion. Not that you'd expect anything else, at this point, right?**

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Marceline gazed into the face of her enemy and let the hatred fill her deep. Dark maroon fur with vague grey clouding around the face, weird golden eyes that reflected light at bizarre angles set into an elongated, triangular head. No matter how many centuries she'd lived she hadn't forgotten a single detail about the demon she reserved a special place in her soul just to despise.

Ja'an stared back with a look of absolute horror on her face the moment Marceline stepped into the chamber, like she'd somehow expected anything else at all to happen when she'd kidnapped almost every single person Marceline loved in the space of a few hours. Still just as crazy as ever then; but she had no space left in her brain to curse Grimmalks because Ja'an was holding her son so tightly his little face was turning red. He turned to her too and screamed again, reaching his arms out towards her desperately.

 _Finn_ , she thought so hard that he probably could have heard it. _Finn I'm sorry. I'm going to save you_.

"Mom!" he sobbed and writhed in the Grimmalk's iron grip, then screamed again with his face screwed up in agony. His cries cut right through everything else, straight to her heart, mixing there with the memory of Bonnie's terrible injuries and the dead child in the Nightosphere left as a sacrifice. Marceline wasn't thinking, there was no way her brain had time to process her actions. The Grimmalk had hurt the people she loved. Her baby was _injured._ Something awoke deep down where Marceline knew her most basic and possessive urges lay. He was hers and he was trying to call to her and reach out for her to save him. It was like an icy blanket of complete nothingness fell across her mind, like she was moving in a dream or trance, completely unable to command or even feel her own limbs. The demon was _torturing her baby_.

One second Ja'an was staring dazedly at her, clutching the screaming boy with her wicked long claws far too close to his face, too close to the still fragile patch of eggshell thin bone on his forehead that could kill him instantly if pressed hard enough. The next second everything whirled together into red and black fury then resolved into a wailing Finn finally tucked safely back into Marceline's arms, long grey fingers blurring with speed as they gently touched every inch of his skin searching for injuries, hissing furiously when she found deep bruises and broken ribs.

And Ja'an was lying on the floor a little way across the cave, still staring, gasping a little, more dazed than ever. The Grimmalk's arms had fallen limply around Marceline's feet, dropped like old trash and twitching a little with the paws still curled as though to grip an infant. Where they jutted from the ripped flesh her shoulder joints were actually a soft ruddy pinkish colour rather than the expected white; the immense speed with which her arms had been torn off had completely liquefied the cartilage and where the end of the arm bones were exposed to the air they steamed a little. If Marceline had had any breath to take away that would have done it; no demon bloodlust had ever driven her to such levels of unthinking violence before. It was something else, a force that was purely about how she felt for the tiny life she held so preciously and had nothing at all to do with her non-human heritage.

She looked down at the stunned little boy already squirming himself more comfortably into the crook of her elbow, his breathing was laboured around at least three cracked ribs but so wonderfully whole and alive that it made her want to do- something. She wasn't sure; some maddening blend of crying and singing and dancing and flying.

"Lady Abadeer." Ja'an managed to gasp around her shock. "You noticed me at last." It was more than Marceline could deal with, she didn't even know what to say. Because what she'd never told Bonnibel, what she'd never told anyone, was that she was fully aware that the gift of a sacrificed child was a deeply affectionate courting ritual among Grimmalks, that Ja'an had been trying to woo her with a display of her ruthless affections. Probably her dad had known, but he'd wisely never said a word about it. It repulsed her, she'd never wanted to be an object of desire for the very worst creature she'd ever had the misfortune to meet. She was saved from having to reply though; Ja'an's eyes rolled back into her head in the next second and she'd lost consciousness from the shock of having her arms ripped off.

The Honour Guard were filing in behind Marceline now; when she'd smelled Finn and Jake's terror from the cavern entrance she'd bundled Bonnie into Zoe's waiting arms instead and streaked ahead, unable to keep to the others' mortal pace when she could almost feel the boys so close to her. A row of horrified eyes took in the ruined smoking arms lying at her feet and then flickered almost as one across the room, to the figure in half-darkness at the back of the cave that she hadn't even spared a thought for yet because _Finn_. Now she wished she had.

"Lich." Billy breathed, No Tongue already gripped tightly in his hand.

A voice like graves being ripped open rumbled around them, shaking the whole cavern and causing clumps of earth to rain down from the soft ceiling.

"Billy. You'll do just as well for now."

Marceline darted forward and snatched up little Jake from where his face peeped out of a sack on the floor, sparing the barest fraction of a second to check him for injuries too and press a kiss to both boys' heads before she was hurtling back towards Matilda, using her long ignored Sire abilities to thrust her thoughts directly into the other vampire's head. Matilda gathered the boys into her arms and with a blur of speed she and Zoe were out of the cavern, streaking back towards to palace with both children safely cradled against them, thick protective fur already sprouting across their arms and faces to save their delicate skin from the fury of the sun. Zoe had left so quickly that Bonnie half slumped against the cavern wall without her support, the exhaustion and after effects of blood loss and trauma still taking their toll though her pale face was set and determined.

She obviously wanted to speak but was holding herself in check. Her self-restraint was something Marceline had never really stopped to admire before but now she considered it a blessing given their proximity to the Lich. Hasty words could cost lives when such an ancient and powerful evil was concerned. A quick flicker of her eyes to Marceline's face and she knew where the other vampires had gone and that her lover forgave her for rushing ahead to find the children; no need to speak because they knew each other's expressions so well. There was so much desperate panic written in the lines of her face, panic that Marceline knew was mirrored in her own expression.

"It does not matter anymore. You will all fill the blank spaces." rumbled that awful voice again and Marceline turned her attention back to His Dark Majesty, the Lich. He'd not moved a muscle since their arrival and she wondered if he even could move anymore. So much of his body was twisted up with mouldering scraps of dead flesh and dirt from the walls, he seemed like he was more than half tree root and maggot by now. He looked different to the few glimpses she'd had of him years ago. Instead of a tall gaunt man he looked like he'd once been a giant rotting child, flaccid and flabby where the dirty muscle and meat still clung to his bones. His face where it was fleshed out was chubby and smooth.

But the sheer weight of power that radiated around him was deep and potent, boiling across them in a thick smog of corruption. She wondered that she didn't feel afraid anymore, just full of weary anger that all of their recent suffering had been caused by a crippled phantasm of ancient darkness hiding in a cave and trying to steal babies to regain his former glory. Marceline wondered what could have happened in his future that he succumbed to mortal weaknesses like revenge and resentment. Whatever it was, she would finish it.

She made to hover across to him, unslinging her axe from her shoulder with the intent to put an end to it once and for all, but a small white hand gripped her ankle and stopped her. She whirled, snarling. Peppermint Butler was undoubtedly the bravest little candy man she'd ever come across but if he had stopped her for no good reason then he was quickly going to be the deadest little candy man of her acquaintance; she was in no mood to listen to his warnings right now.

"Let me go, Peppermint." she growled at him, trying to wrench herself free without hurting him. But the tiny candy clung on tightly, shaking his head with a grim set to his face and his words coming in short gasps like he was struggling to push them out of his throat.

"You don't understand! Your Majesty, please! Look at the floor, the rune circle! You don't recognise it?" he let out a little noise of frustration when she continued to stare angrily at him. "Some half demon! It's a restoration circle, it- any living thing that- that steps within the circle will be drawn into the crystal. He'll steal your life force... and... use your body as a puppet to perform whatever deeds he wishes. I can only assume he was going to use it on the princes. He can't m-move now, he's too deteriorated from travelling who knows how far from the future. But you can't ent-enter the circle! And you and your... vampire friends are the only ones who can- can move at all, b-because you're tech-technically dead."

And yes it had struck her as strange that nobody else had rushed forward to deal with the Lich or even opened their mouths once Billy drew his attention to them. But she hadn't really had a moment to think about it, she was too exhausted and maddened to wonder why the others acted the way she always expected people to and hung back behind her, followed her lead.

It was the long disused Vampire Queen part of her brain which arrogantly assumed everyone was just another fawning subject, she took for granted that she would be leading and listened to and she hated that she expected it because she had never asked to rule anyone. Well ok yes the vampires, technically, but that had been a long time ago; before the bitter civil war and the revolution, before she was forced to flee the crumbling ruins of her Kingdom, leaving her oldest and most loyal friends to suffer and die so that she could escape across the sea, run to Bonnibel for aid because she'd heard that someplace to the north was a powerful and beautiful princess who would protect those with good intentions and she'd always meant to return and heal the rifts between her people. It just hadn't worked out that way, most of the vampires were too far gone to change. They'd had hundreds of years of sating themselves on the blood of humans, they didn't know how to even begin to change. She'd killed so many, taken their heads off herself with her axe because they at least deserved the respect of looking her in the eyes when she executed them; so when Bonnie had lectured her about the ethics of responsibility and sacrifice she'd snarled back angrily-

 _Urgh! Stop getting distracted! What the hell, why am I even thinking about that?_

And before the thought was even finished she knew. The Lich could control minds, it was no secret that he could turn a person's thoughts as easily as he could spread death with his touch. Now that his powers were weakened he couldn't act as effectively as he once had and the only thing he could do to stop her was to slide her thoughts away from him, keep her focussed on something else, stop her from thinking about him long enough that something might enter the circle and restore him at least partially.

But Marceline had once spent years meditating alone in a shack in the wilderness, initially to try to come to terms with the aftermath of losing her Kingdom but in reality strengthening her mental defences so that no telepaths or mind benders could ever control her again the way the rebel vampires had. She felt his foul touch across her mental shields as a dead slimy finger caressing the topmost layer of her thoughts and sliding them to the side. With a grunt she strengthened her resolve and looked straight back at the Lich, locking eyes with his empty holes until he was all she could see, all she could think about.

He pressed harder on her thoughts and momentarily she was crippled with the sheer weight of her centuries old despair because she missed her Mom so much, and Simon too, her Kingdom, her friends... All dead, gone forever. Everyone left her in the end, she was always alone, left behind- _No. The Lich. Focus._ She fought him, staring hard at him and gritting her teeth, pushing her concentration to its limits. The touch of slime in her mind receded when it became apparent she would not be forced to ignore him or rooted to the spot like her companions.

Peppermint Butler was sweating now, the white between his red stripes more of an unhealthy grey as he fought to speak. He grunted to get her attention.

"Can't... the- the chain. Neck... crown, gem. ...hurry." and then the crushing weight of the Lich's control smashed down and the little candy man stood stock still, eyes straining and mouth clamped shut. Nobody else had managed to speak a word and her respect for him ramped up a notch. His mental defences must be strong, too.

Marceline felt the moment when his mind collapsed beneath the Lich's power and it took her a second to work out what the jumble of words he'd managed to gasp out meant. The crown? The gem? She looked around wildly, finally grasping what Peppermint had been trying to tell her when her eyes slid across Bonnie's frozen pale face.

Her crown held a gem that protected her mind from control. But she was still rooted mute to the floor, so perhaps the gem didn't work? Fresh panic began to twist in Marceline's stomach again because she was alone with an immobile ancient darkness and she had absolutely no idea what to do except try to follow what Peppermint Butler had been trying to tell her. Neck? She looked at everyone's necks in turn, nothing to see there but the very faintest ghost of a hickey bellow Bonnie's left ear and that was _definitely_ not relevant to their problem unless she could somehow defeat the Lich with the power of kinky sex. She doubted Peppermint Butler had been implying that.

And then she glanced back at the Lich himself, still sitting ominously stationary on his earthen throne, and her eye caught the glimmer of gold half hidden under dirt and roots at his throat. It was a gold chain with a dark red round stone pulsing like an angry heartbeat - _m red, so hungry, been a while since I ate anything; no! Not working, not gonna be distracted_ \- and it was exactly what Peppermint had been trying to draw her attention to.

Marceline couldn't see how Bonnie's crown would help but Peppermint had come up with the plan and he seemed to think it was important enough to waste two of his last words on so she wasn't going to argue. She pulled her own hat off and shot forward to snatch it off her lover's head with a muttered "Sorry, Bon," then jammed the garish thing into her own hair, gasping at the sudden clarity of thought that it dropped over her like a crystal cloak. The weakened Lich couldn't even begin to reach through the combined powers of the crown and her own substantial mental defences.

Despite all their years together Marceline had never worn the crown, never even been tempted to try it on. Now she wished she had; it felt amazing, like she was looking at a beautifully annotated diagram of her entire mind all at once. Everything was so clear and simple! If this was how the power of the crown made Bonnie feel all the time then it was really no surprise she was such a massive brainlord.

There was just enough space around the edges of the circle that she could slip around it and reach the earthen throne if she was very careful and shape shifted to something very small and sure footed, like a kitten. Losing no time Marceline shape shifted to kitten form and let out a pleased mewl when the crown obligingly shrunk down to perfectly fit her lushly furred grey head. Marceline edged forward carefully, letting her long tapering tail aid her balance as she squeezed between the edges of the rune circle and the dank cavern wall, all four paws precisely in line and not daring to take a comforting breath in case the expansion of her ribs was enough to disturb the runes. She didn't dare try to fly, it was easier to judge the distance between herself and the lethal runes if she was closer to them and all that would come to her frantic mind was _kitten,_ like when the girls shifted to their preferred forms.

For one dizzying second the tip of one long grey ear grazed the edge of the circle and a deathly chill stole down into her from the place where it touched the air above the glowing runes, making her vision swim turbulently and snaking long icy tendrils into her chest that wrapped around her heart to search for a pulse and into her lungs to steal her breath away. _Joke's on you, Lich. I have no breath to steal_ , she thought smugly and with an effort managed to slide her way back towards the relative safety of the cavern wall. Marceline was not too proud to admit that true death terrified her; she had no plans whatsoever to experience it that day or any other for long centuries to come.

Finally after what seemed like an age she was at the other side, clear of the lethal magic and able to shift back. Up close the Lich was even more grotesque than ever, a twisted mimicry of a huge chubby body filled with earth and rotting flesh and maggots. He'd still not moved an inch, barely even breathing to support his fragile form. She felt the feeble fingers of his power trying to grip her throat to keep the air from reaching her lungs. He was definitely losing it to forget that she didn't need to breathe.

"So here we are, Lich. Corpse to corpse. But I'm going to walk out of here and you're not."

And then without warning the world went away, there was blackness and nothing but herself and the Lich. He was standing, too close, hand outstretched to wrap immovably around her throat. That terrible voice drifted over her once more, vibrating her bones and turning her resolve to water. Her ear touching the circle must have been enough to restore him just enough for one final terrible act.

"Foolish child, you are not your father. The uneasy truce I hold with him has no sway over how I will treat you. I am the cold that lasts an eternity, I am the darkness between the stars. I am... I have no mother. I have never known sweetness. You are potent, full of magic and strength. You will restore me fully."

And he was reaching for the crown, to rip it off her head and Marceline knew then that she was going to die all the way this time because without the crown working alongside her mental defences she was nothing but his slave, she'd be responsible for resurrecting his powers-

 _Grab the gem from his neck!_

It must have been the crown, because it sounded like Bonnibel's voice whispering in her head. For one tiny fraction of a second she wondered if Simon heard his crown whisper like that too, whisper all kinds of crazy messed up things instead of life saving instructions.

But then her fingers were closing around the chain and dragging it forward hard against the fragile dead flesh of the Lich's neck. It burned furiously against her palm but the pain was nothing compared to the roar of pure fury that shook the cavern when the chain finally came free and slid away from the ruined throat with a long streak of slimy dead flesh still clinging to it. With the last of his strength the Lich closed dead fingers around Bonnibel's precious crown, but he'd been right about one thing at least. Marceline was full of strength and she was faster than his shambling ruin of a body.

With one squeeze of her supernaturally strong hand she crushed the red gem to a fine powder and cast it behind herself, into the rune circle. And the Lich's fingers fell uselessly against her head, sliding bonelessly down against the cool metal of the crown. Quick as a flash her axe was out, whispering through the air and sliding effortlessly into the greying bone and rotten flesh of his neck. The Lich's entire body slumped forward and disintegrated as his head spun free, spraying her in maggots and dirt and chunks of rotting skin. From behind her the rune circle emitted a mortal wail and she turned, shielding her eyes against the blinding light that came from it.

Where the red dust had touched the hanging crystal in the middle of the circle slashes of piercing white light emerged, filling the cavern. As she watched the coloured salts forming the runes began to suck upwards into the crystal, followed by clods of earth from the floor and walls. When it began to suck at her hair the trance broke and the panic kicked back in with full force.

 _MARCY! Get out! Now!_

Marceline didn't need the crown to scream at her, she was already blurring across the cavern to gather Bonnie in her arms while the rest of their companions yelled to each other and stampeded for the doorway. She wasn't going to fight them to get out through the narrow exit; transforming mid flight to giant vampire bat she wrapped the squealing and protesting Bonnibel more tightly in her hold, folded herself protectively around her still fragile lover and with one immense bone shattering impact smashed _up_ and out through the thick earthen roof of the cavern, shooting straight up into the blistering midday sunlight even as her magically strengthened skeleton reassembled itself.

"WHAT THE STUFF MARCY?!" Bonnie was screaming at the top of her lungs, but she didn't care, couldn't find a single shard of caring anywhere within her because they were outside and free and flying and so gloriously _alive_ and-

 _Burning up in the daylight! Shit!_

She'd taken her hat off to wear the crown and now she was exposed under the glare of a midday summer sun. With a shriek loud enough to wake the dead a huge dark shape hurtled across the sky, trailing thick black smoke in its wake and a few licks of actual flame rolling off into the wind. Residents of the Candy Kingdom that she passed looked overhead but didn't concern themselves too much; the vampire flying around in the day and accidentally setting herself on fire was a fairly common occurrence and signified that all was back to normal at the palace.

What was less normal was the group of ageing heroes and Peppermint Butler streaming through the forest away from a rapidly growing sink hole that pulsed a brilliant white light deeply within the earth. Forest animals scattered in terror and the few candy folk who'd been out enjoying the fine weather beat a hasty retreat. Whatever could make Billy the Hero run like that wasn't something they weren't keen to face.

Bonnie looked back over Marceline's dramatically smoking shoulder; the hole was the size of a small cottage now and surely must have engulfed the entire cavern. The huge dead tree that the cave had been dug underneath was slowly being sucked downwards into the imploding vortex; how much of the land it would destroy was anyone's guess.

With a final scream of unrepeatable swear words Marceline crashed fist-first through the windows of the palace's dining hall and skidded the full length of the long wooden table, coming to rest at the far end with the dainty pink tablecloth thrown up over her head to block out the few stray rays of sunshine that still filtered down through the almost permanently closed blinds. She transformed back to better huddle under the soft cloth, huge blisters already beginning to fade back into her pale skin although the stink of smoke would linger around for days no matter how much she bathed.

The way they'd landed meant Bonnibel was still curled up protectively in Marceline's lap when she transformed back. In the gloom beneath the tablecloth they stared at each other incredulously for a moment before Marcy cracked and curled over in a fit of laughter, tears beginning to flow again unchecked down her face. She felt giddy with relief and adrenaline.

"You're still wearing my crown." Bonnie gasped between giggles, reaching up and grabbing it back. It was ever so slightly bent on the tip, probably from where she'd smashed her head through the earth to free them from the cavern. The feeling of crystal precision faded from Marceline's thoughts but she didn't stop laughing, didn't think she'd ever stop.

A small querying presence tapping timidly the back of her mind did finally get her to quieten a little however, and she nodded to herself with another huge smile.

"The boys are with your Doctor friend, they're bruised and tired and a little dehydrated but they're safe. Finn has a couple of cracked ribs so she put him out for a while until the painkillers take effect." she said with a grin, still feeling unbelievably light.

"How do you know?" Bonnie replied curiously, threading her fingers through Marcy's smoky hair and gripping lightly as thought she was afraid the vampire would disappear at any moment.

"Zoe told me." When the princess continued to just stare blankly at her she hastily amended with a blush, "You know, through our mind bond. Its a lineage-Sire thing."

They could have had a conversation about it or just taken the time to appreciate the miracle of being alive and safe and together, finally free from the darkness that had been hunting them. And they did, in a fashion.

When Peppermint Butler finally came to find which window they'd crashed through his blush could have lit up the entire palace but like so much else that day Marceline couldn't find it in herself to do much more than laugh again at his poor mortified face and hastily pull the tablecloth back up to protect what was left of their modesty. Well, everyone knew vampires had no shame.


	21. Chapter 21

**Trying to get this all posted before Halloween but there's still a couple of chapters left so it'll probably be November before it's done.**

 **So, a question. I'm working on a Real World AU and I'm looking for proof readers/someone to bounce ideas off. Especially someone not British, who can point out any cultural references that might need further explanation. I didn't want to have to transplant the whole story to the US when I'm not confident I can write it authentically in that culture. Let me know if you'd be interested.**

 **Content Warning: some healing injuries, funerals, family feels. If you made it this far without being triggered chances are the rest of the story only requires minimal warnings.**

* * *

An infinite distance away across the dimensions, in the darkness of an ordinary night, a young child cried out in fear. He'd woken from a terrible nightmare and was scared at finding himself alone, scared of the things his sleeping brain had shown him. Footsteps outside his bedroom door quieted his terror; his Moma was never far away.

"Oh my poor baby, did you have a bad dream?" she asked, coming into the room along with his father. She slid her trunk up against his round face and smoothed down his sleep mussed hair.

"I was hurt and there was a scary grey lady and she wouldn't let me get better!" he cried, hugging her close and trembling. The nightmare had been too real, he'd almost felt like the time he'd spent there had been real too. He could feel the grey woman's cold throat grasped in his huge fist, if he wanted to. He didn't like it, it made no sense.

"Only a dream, my sweet, sweet baby boy." his Moma soothed, pressing a kiss to his forehead. "Go back to sleep now, we'll be right outside."

"Brave little fella." his father added, giving him a special smile and squeezing his hand. "You're such a precious boy."

Sweet Pig Trunks smiled tremulously back at his parents and let his eyes slide closed, untroubled by nightmares for the rest of the night. By morning he had forgotten all about the scary grey axe lady or the funny looking cat person, he woke eager for his breakfast and another fun day at school.

...

In the end the sinkhole grew until it completely consumed the colossal tree that had stood above it and a good portion of surrounding forest too, then it exploded in a rain of tiny wooden splinters and earth. By the next morning the local candy children were already dirtying their knees by sliding down the shallow crater sides and whooping with laughter. It was a fitting grave for the personification of evil, Bonnie thought.

"I suppose he's not really gone for good though, is he?" Billy asked as he stood with the Guard and the princess at the edge of the crater, surveying the damage.

Bonnie shook her head sadly, careful not to move too much and pull on the dark scabs covering her damaged face and neck like a layer of thick scales. She'd almost decided not to come outside today but she didn't want to seem like she was hiding her injuries. She wasn't ashamed of them, just self-conscious about the long tears that ran down from her cheeks to her collarbones. And she still ached fiercely when she moved too quickly, still felt the Grimmalk's furred fists slamming into her head if she cared to let her thoughts dwell on it. She shook her head again to push those memories away, wincing a little at the movement and trying to focus instead on Billy's question.

"He's the embodiment of the desire to destroy life. I doubt very much that something as simple as a rupture in the space-time continuum will be enough to keep him down forever. But with any luck we've either thrown him back into his own time, knocked him far enough into the future or past that he's no longer our problem or dispersed him so finely that he's now just a malignant feeling rather than a solid being. And it's likely we'll never know which."

Billy wanted to believe that the Lich was gone for good, wanted it so badly. But the princess's logic was irrefutable. it would do him no good to argue with her. She was after all the most scarily intelligent person he'd ever known. Whether he wished the Lich gone or not it made no difference; the princess knew what she was talking about.

"But what will you do now?" she asked, turning to him and pinning him with a concerned gaze.

It was a good question. What would be do now? Somewhere along the way he'd started to enjoy being a hero again, being in the Honour Guard again. His old cave seemed pretty lonely in his memories and besides, little Jake was growing up without his birth parents now. He'd need someone around to tell him about what an amazing friend Joshua had been. Billy was fairly certain he knew what would happen to the children now anyway, nobody had said anything even a little close to suggesting they be moved from the palace. He took his time to think it all over before he replied, letting all the possibilities for his own future slosh around his brain before a plan solidified from the nebulous chaos of his thoughts.

"I think," he said slowly, still a little uncertain if he really _was_ sure, "think that I'm going to look up Canyon. See what she's up to these days and if she maybe wants to get a spaghetti dinner some time. Maybe take a ride on the old bike with me."

Things hadn't ended well with Canyon the last time he'd seen her. Billy had sworn off adventuring and gone to live alone in his hideout and Canyon- well, she hadn't wanted to live like that. She wasn't the kind of woman who took well to being caged up in one place. But seeing Joshua driven mad and eventually dying without Margaret, it got a man thinking.

He'd never really know if it was the effects of grief, of the Lich's corrupting power poisoning his friend's mind or if Joshua had always been somewhat unhinged but watching his old friend spiral into madness and eventually die confused and alone had had a pretty deep impact on Billy. He looked ahead and tried to imagine spending the rest of his life on his own in his cave filled with cold memories and regret. It was not something he wanted for himself, or for anyone else for that matter.

The princess nodded and smiled, she seemed pleased that he intended to pursue happiness. Billy had his suspicions about that too; for someone that had been in deep denial about her relationship a few days ago she sure was keen for everyone to get their happy endings now. He supposed he could understand that though. Almost dying multiple times in a short space of time had the useful side effect of putting all the small worries into perspective. And who knew what horrors she had suffered at the hands of the Grimmalk, the princess' eyes were still shadowed and traumatized whenever the cat demon was mentioned.

He understood that they were intensely relieved to be alive but he wished that she and Marceline would stop being quite so affectionate all over the place. They were both attractive women and it had been a long time since Canyon had left; he found himself taking more cold showers than was strictly necessary lately. It wasn't appropriate to have those kind of thoughts and Billy felt sure that Marceline would waste no time in ripping his arms off too if she knew about it. He shivered, glad she wasn't one of those telepathic vampires he'd heard legends about. Marceline was definitely someone Billy wanted to stay on good terms with.

"Do you have any ideas where Canyon is these days?" the princess's question pulled him back from his musings and he frowned.

"She moves around a lot, does odd jobs here and there. But most likely she's back in her house in the woods down near Wizard City by now. I'll go see her soon, might even bring her flowers if I can find some nice ones on the way."

And he really would, this time. Not just talk about it, not just think about it and fantasize about it. Billy had been alone long enough.

...

They searched the forest top to bottom but Joshua's body was nowhere to be found. Given its proximity to the cavern they could only assume it had been sucked into the imploding space-time rift and lost forever. They never found Ja'an either, Marceline was intensely relieved about that. Bonnie still shivered almost imperceptibly whenever the Grimmalk was mentioned and she was shy of letting anyone look at her injuries, Marceline didn't want to put her through the trauma of having to see her torturer again even if she was just a dead body now.

Several days later when all the arrangements had been made and all the correct authorities notified a small memorial service was held in the orchard behind the ruins of the Dogs' home. They lay Joshua's hat in a small grave next to his wife and other son. Marceline played a selection of Joshua's favourite music on his old viola, one of the few things that had escaped the fire. It was fitting, a medley of sombre movements from Mozart's Requiem Mass. The viola had been Joshua's instrument of choice and Marcy regretted bitterly that she'd never played with him when she had the chance. She promised his memory solemnly that she would teach Jake as soon as he was old enough.

Once the formal part of the service was finished the mourners filed into a makeshift marquee to one side of the orchard, overlooking the spectacular view down the valley. All of Joshua's neighbours were there as well as family and friends; Miss Tree Trunks had provided food for everyone and was making sure their glasses were kept topped up with her potent home-made apple cider. After a few stories of Joshua, Margaret and Jermaine were shared and a good amount of cider drank by all, Bonnibel judged the time right to make her announcement.

She stood gingerly, still sore and stiff, and tapped a spoon to the side of her glass politely until the murmur of conversation dropped away and all eyes turned to her. She hadn't been surrounded by so many people since she was kidnapped and perhaps it was irrational but she was sure they were staring at the wounds still visible on her face and neck, the bandage around her left wrist. She tried to push those thoughts away and focus instead on what she needed to say. Her breathing was speeding up and irrational anxiety built in her chest but she refused to give in to it, she needed to speak her peace.

"Joshua was my friend for a long time. He loved his wife and both his sons and he gave his life in defense of his youngest, Jake. No matter what else may have happened to him when the time came he fought fearlessly and died a hero. You know that his surviving son is living with me in the Candy palace for the time being and so far nobody has taken issue with that. What you maybe don't know is that when they were born I promised Joshua and Margaret that in the event of their deaths I would act as a legal guardian for their sons, and I think now is the right time to tell you all that I intend to start formal adoption proceedings for Jake. And so long as its approved by his relatives and the authorities, I intend to fully adopt him and raise him as my own son. Does anybody have any objection to that?"

She held her breath as stealthily as possible, palms sweaty from nerves that she would never let show on her face. Bonnie had centuries of practice with public speaking but she was as nervous now as if she'd never done it before in her life.

Because Jake had been living as hers now for so long that she'd come to think of him as a son without every really realising it, until Marceline had pointed out that day in the corridor outside of the nursery that if anything happened to Joshua they were the closest things to parents he had. He had Billy too, but the big man had never spoken a word about taking Jake himself when Joshua went crazy. She'd comforted him, played with him, bathed him, loved him like a mother. Now she was asking his only living relatives to give up the last part of Joshua and Margaret they had left because she'd formed an emotional bond with the child, because parenthood had taken her quite by surprise.

Nobody spoke for a moment, then a low hiss of whispered conversations sprang up all around the marquee. An elderly Dog in a heavily patterned floral hat raised her paw timidly.

"Does that mean he'll be raised as a prince? And he'll be King Jacob one day?" she asked creakily. It was a good question, and one Bonnie had been naively hoping to avoid.

"Yes. He'll be next in line to the Candy throne if and when something happens to me." she replied, heart hammering in her throat. _Please don't ask anything else, please don't-_

"But what if you marry and produce biological heirs? Won't they be next in line rather than an adopted son?"

She thought the Dog that spoke up next might have been Jake's uncle or cousin, he had a strong resemblance to Joshua and a sly calculating look in his eye when he smirked at her. And of course they asked the one thing she'd been trying to avoid. _Of course_.

"If I ever marry you can rest easy about biological heirs. Because," - _deep breath, don't be afraid, not pre-war society, nobody cares-_ "I'm just not romantically interested in men. Males of any kind. _If_ I marry it will be to a woman, so biological heirs are terribly unlikely. And no circumstances would never affect my regard of Jake as my eldest child anyway. Jake always will be considered the next in line. No pregnancies, other adoptions or marriages of any kind will change that."

He words were met with a stunned silence. The same sly looking Dog was gazing at her intently, head cocked to one side.

"You mean that vampire, then. You want us to let you have custody of Jake so you can be raise him with a bloodsucker and her human pet?" the Dog asked eventually, an ugly look on his face. Every eye turned to him, a few shocked gasps sounded through the crowd. _Ah yeah, of course they don't care that she's female. They care that she's undead._ Another, older Dog who looked like he could be the speaker's father stepped forward, facing the sly looking stranger and all but yelling in his face.

"Jared you shut your mouth! 'That 'bloodsucker'' saved his life more times than you've even laid eyes on him, who the hell do you think you are to question her right to be Jacob's stepmother? I think it's a beautiful arrangement and I think idiots like you would do well to think over where you were when the Lich was trying to drain the life out of the boy; were you facing him down like a hero, like true family? Or were you holed up in some cheap hotel somewhere with some floozy you picked up in a bar? No don't even bother replying, I know where you were. You're a disappointment, son!"

Jared opened his mouth to reply then shut it again, jaw clicking shut audibly.

"Dad," he started again after a moment, "he's just a baby. Did you forget that humans used to keep us as their pets? And now they want to take him away and raise him with the last human, who's to say they're not going to try to _train_ him? Uncle Joshua died to keep Jacob safe and now we're going to hand him off to strangers? It's not right."

Bonnibel listened to the exchange in stunned silence. She'd not expected the rest of the Dog family to actually defend her when the obvious objections were raised. But as Jared and his father continued to argue she looked around and saw that every other Dog in the room was looking at her and nodding, smiling, approving. It brought tears to her eyes although she wouldn't let them fall, not here surrounded by Jake's family. Great Aunt Maureen, the family matriarch, was holding Jake and brought him forward to her when she caught the princess' eye. It had been a long day and the puppy smiled sleepily as she took hold of him and stretched his arms up to wind lovingly around her neck.

The arguing Dogs quieted as Great Aunt Maureen shuffled over to them and rested a paw on both of their shoulders.

"Justin, Jared. Hush your bickering. Look at little Prince Jacob, he's with his mother and he's happy. Isn't that all we can ask for any of our children? And if he gets a second mother and a brother as well then he'll be blessed three times over. Go take your discussion somewhere else, it's not about Jacob in any case. You two need to spend some quality time together, talk out your differences. Off you go now."

And with a gentle shove she propelled the two Dogs towards the door of the marquee, they slouched off with identical reproachful expressions on their furred faces.

"Now then, does anyone else have anything to say? Or are we all agreed that it would be a crime to separate Jake from his adoptive mother?" Maureen asked, raising an imperious eyebrow around the room. Nobody spoke at all, most avoiding her gaze. After a few moments the general conversation resumed and the crowd began to mill around again, talking quietly about how Jake's future was secure and exchanging stories about his parents and brother.

"Thank you, Maureen." Bonnie murmured, coming forward to gently hug the old Dog carefully without disturbing the puppy that was wound around her throat.

"It's my pleasure, dear. Just think, my great nephew is a genuine prince! You just make sure to heal yourself and rest, look after Jacob and have yourself a wonderful wedding now. Oh, but where is your lovely fiancée?"

Bonnibel opened her mouth to reply that Marceline was most definitely _not_ her fiancée, was not at all the settling down kind, but looking around the room she couldn't spot the tall vampire anywhere. Her heart lurched a little at finding herself so suddenly alone in a crowd.

"I don't know, she was here a minute ago." she replied, perplexed and not a little bit worried.

...

Alcohol was underrated, Hunson Abadeer decided as he slung back another glass of scotch and let it burn comfortingly down his throat until the heat spread through his stomach. Underrated and definitely something he needed more of in his life if he was going to process what he was hearing.

"So you actually killed the Lich?" he asked again, still shocked almost beyond words. His daughter, his own sweet little monster, was sitting down across from him in his office with her pale face carefully composed while she casually explained how she had just destroyed the most ancient and evil being that ever had existed. Oh yes, he definitely needed more alcohol.

"Well probably not," she conceded, "Bonnibel thinks he can't really die because he's 'the anthropomorphic representation of an abstract concept' or something. I think that's pretty much bullcrap to be honest though. I mean he looked pretty damn dead when I sliced his head off and he got sucked into that imploding wormhole thing. But I wouldn't want to bet against her when it comes to science either, Bonnie knows her stuff."

Hunson nodded in dazed agreement, Bonnibel Bubblegum did indeed know her stuff when it came to science. But Marceline was no slouch when it came to killing people either, he'd seen it himself once or twice.

Family was a strange thing, he reflected as he looked at his only child. She was so like her mother. Same hair, same smile, same damnable morals no matter what he'd done to try to make a demon of her. Even the times she'd killed had been either for food or noble reasons; she'd taken down hundreds of her own vampire subjects for what she charitably called 'insubordination' but really was just refusing to acknowledge her ban on genocide against humans. Hunson had several reasons to be fond of the human race and his favourite one was now sitting across from him sipping at her own glass of scotch.

It seemed like only yesterday she was a squishy grey new born with spiky tufts of black hair sticking up all over the place, wriggling and squalling in his arms as he gazed proudly down at her for the first time. He remembered when she'd been only a little older, how she used to grab his finger and gum it in her little grey mouth, how she'd giggle wildly when she broke his skin with her first fang. Then he didn't remember so much of her childhood; responsibilities in the Nightosphere had kept him away for so long and when he'd returned the bombs had already fallen and she'd been gone, starting her adventures so much earlier than he'd ever thought she would. And now here she was, all grown up and living her own life, asking him for things he'd never realistically dreamed she'd even want. But was it so surprising, really? It was after all very similar to choices he'd made, for better or worse. He poured himself another scotch and stared pensively into its amber depths.

Hunson had always had big plans for Marceline. From the moment they'd conceived her she was special; she was going to rule above as he ruled below and unite the dimensions under demon control, his magnificent crowning achievement. And then the humans had ruined it all by starting their war and blowing up her birth right world before she'd even had a chance to taste her destiny and neither of them had really known what she was or what her purpose was any more after that. Marceline had been supposed to cause the Armageddon, not be another victim of it. It still left a sour taste in his mouth.

"You know what I wanted for you." he told her after a long tense moment where he gathered his thoughts and she stared at him expectantly. "And you know that what you're asking for is not what I had hoped. Bur you can't do what we'd intended for you, that's irrelevant now." Hunson could have bitten his own tongue off the moment the words left his lips, why had he said it was irrelevant? He braced himself for the screaming match that he knew was coming.

But for the first time in her entire life Marceline didn't explode, didn't scream at him or even raise her voice in defiance. She just looked at him searchingly for a moment and finally nodded, understanding that he wasn't saying that _she_ was irrelevant. Hunson let out a breath he hadn't known he was holding.

"I know you had other plans for me, Daddy. Plans that won't work out for various reasons now. And we've not always seen eye to eye on this, but I promise you this is something I want with all my heart. I can't be who you originally intended me to be, but maybe I can be who I want to be instead?" she asked, voice low and a little unsure.

All those old insecurities about her place in the world were still there then, just buried under the surface. Hunson didn't understand how she'd changed so much in such a short space of time, even with everything that she'd told him, and yet she was somehow exactly the same as she'd always been. Still hesitant to open up, still unsure how to talk to him. He considered his next move. She wanted something from him, he wanted something from her. So, perhaps they could strike a deal.

"And if I give you my permission? Does that mean you'll come and see me and let us try to be a family?"

"I'm not asking for your permission, Daddy. I'm telling you what's happening in my life and how things are going to be from now on, whether you like it or not." Marceline snapped back, her hair shifting a little in annoyance. Ah, so his fiery daughter was still in there after all. It made Hunson smile to know she hadn't changed all that much. He downed his drink and stood, turning towards the hidden safe on the back wall behind his desk where he kept his most precious treasures. He made his decision.

"But you'll come and see me, yes? You'll let me have some part in your lives?" he pressed as he opened the safe.

Marceline sighed behind him and he could almost feel her roll her eyes towards his back. So much like her mother, so very stubborn.

 _"Yes_ , Daddy. So long as you promise to stop forcing me to push you away. I don't want to be you, I don't want to live down here and rule the Nightosphere in your place. Ok? So please, _please_ , just stop trying to make me."

Hunson hesitated. After there had ceased to really be a human society for Marceline to rule in his stead he'd conceived of the idea that she should come and take over the family business below. So far she'd evaded all of his attempts to get her to stay and even try the idea out; he'd even sent his spy in the Candy Kingdom on her tail to find out what he could use as leverage but she was too slippery to pin down.

After that messy business with the Grimmalks she'd only been to see him a handful of times, each one stood out as a dark spot in his memory for the inevitable rows and bad blood between them. This was easily the most pleasant conversation he'd had with his little girl in centuries. _Only she's not really so little, is she? She's not Daddy's little monster anymore. She's her own woman_.

The realisation hit him like a thunderbolt. Marceline had grown up, she was not someone he'd molded to fit a task anymore. She had gone and found her own reasons for existing and all she wanted was his blessing to pursue them. He hung his head; the scotch was making him sentimental.

"I promise." he murmured, still with his back turned. He wasn't sure if he'd be able to look her in the eye for that dangerous moment when his hands suddenly trembled and his voice cracked. Reaching into the safe he took out a battered wooden box with scorch marks across the lid and sternly told himself to get a grip. Memories flooded him when he touched the ancient worn wood of the lid, letting his thumb slide in a long practiced motion over the soft carving on the sides. For maybe the first time he wondered what her mother would have said about it all. Something both sentimental and headstrong, no doubt.

By the time Hunson turned back around he was composed again, sliding the box across the desk to her, nodding his approval and secretly relieved at the way her green eyes lit up. Whatever Marceline had told him a part of her was asking for his consent to follow through on her plans. A child never really stopped seeking their parent's approval no matter how much they grew up.

"Do you have a photo?" he asked carefully as he returned to his seat, not wanting to say anything to break the fragile peace between them again.

Marceline smiled in relief and pulled out a small square of paper from her jacket pocket, handing it to him across the desk then coming around to crouch by his chair and point out the fine details. It was a Polaroid, it must be very recent because it still smelled a little of solvents. In the picture a little blonde human boy and a golden furred puppy looked up from a pile of brightly coloured building blocks, smiling at the camera with matching mischievous expressions.

"Which one is Finn?" he asked carefully because he didn't want to be presumptuous. Marceline laughed.

"The human! The Dog is Jake. They're the same age but Jake is maturing a little more quickly, his species grows up faster. He's already talking more than a couple of words and he's walking on his own. He's got magic too, he can stretch and shape shift so I'm pretty sure his bloodline isn't pure Dog. It's cool to have another shape shifter around though. But Finn, he's such a bright boy! So brave too. He found his way out of my bedroom and down the ladder to the fridge and he can't walk more than a few steps! His ribs are healing nicely after that scumbag Grimmalk hurt him, did I tell you I ripped her arms right out of their sockets? I was so mad."

Hunson couldn't keep the proud smile off his face as he listened to Marceline fill him in on everything he'd missed with his grandsons. _Grandsons_. He tasted the word and decided liked the way that felt.

He interrupted her suddenly, there'd be plenty of time to hear about Finn's outstanding skills at stacking blocks later but something had just occurred to him.

"When can I meet them? Can I keep the photo? Will they call me 'Granddaddy'?"

Marceline let out a startled laugh and quite unexpectedly slid her arms around her father's shoulders in a quick and only slightly self-conscious hug.


	22. Chapter 22

**The end is in sight! There are two chapters left after this, and an epilogue. Thank you so much to everyone who's come this far with me, you guys brighten up my days. Also my reviewers! Your kind words make me giggle happily from where I'm hiding under my duvet!**

 **Content Warning: feels, fluff, cuteness. Alcohol.**

* * *

"Why won't you tell me what you know? Peppermint Butler! You answer me right now!"

Princess Bubblegum's face was flushed an unflattering shade of magenta, fists clenched almost white in anger. But no matter how she screamed at him Peppermint's mind was made up; the princess would just have to wait. It would be more than his life was worth to speak up now.

Because when she'd returned from Joshua's wake in a daze and told him what had been said and asked by little Jake's family and that Marceline was nowhere to be found he'd had a suspicious feeling about what the vampire's thought process had led her to. He'd made his excuses and gone as fast as dignity would allow him to his private office where he'd discovered the door locked from the inside and a hastily scribbled note in the wreckage of the secret drawer in his desk.

Years before when there'd been some crisis or other requiring her to visit the Nightosphere in a hurry, Peppermint Butler had accidentally let slip to Marceline that he kept bug milk and everything else one could require for just such an occasion in his rooms. She'd politely allowed him to go and fetch the necessaries for her that time, but of course she'd not waited to find him now because patience and forethought were foreign concepts to Marceline when she decided she was in a hurry. His eyes scanned the messy scribbled note twice and he sat hard in his chair, running his little hands apprehensively across the smooth striped dome of his head.

 _Peppermint. You are a dead man when I get home. I know you sent that letter you two-faced little buttlord. Tell anyone where I am and I will eat you._

She hadn't signed it but he knew the handwriting at a glance. And just to prove a point that she _knew_ he knew, she'd written it on the back of the original note he'd saved as an example of her hand, the one he'd used to forge the letter to her Royal Guard. The bug milk was gone and so was his Royal Vampire Seal Ring replica.

Oh he had other stashes of useful objects hidden in unlikely places but his privileged information about Marceline was something he'd taken a very long time to come by and it irked him that he'd never even considered her chronic impatience and super strength when concealing his extracurricular activities. Peppermint had taken every care to hide his dark interests from Princess Bubblegum, who was principled and law abiding at least when considering laws she herself had passed; definitely not the sort of person who'd just punch through his delicate locks when alternative means of opening them wasn't apparent. He hadn't thought once about vampire-proofing his desk which was definitely an oversight on his part.

Peppermint had sat for a long time staring at the broken desk and threatening note, losing track of time as panic grew and swelled within him. His long conquered nervous habit, pulling chunks of his sugary coating loose in lieu of hair, was becoming increasingly difficult to resist and for a moment his nails dug a little deeper into his scalp.

But as his vision began to tunnel with fear his logical mind chimed in with a belated observation. Marceline wasn't actually here and wasn't currently ripping him into pieces, she may very well have actually been less annoyed than she sounded. It was extremely hard to tell, her written messages were always too short to convey much emotion. If she really wanted him dead she'd be here killing him, surely? As he'd noted earlier, patience was not Marceline's strongest character trait.

All he could do was go and try to keep the princess distracted until the vampire's return, hopefully later that evening. Peppermint Butler deflated like a stuck balloon, the worry and fear sighing out of him in a long stream of breath. He'd picked himself up and shakily straightened his disarrayed suit, then went to find his other mistress without so much as a backwards glance at his wrecked desk. He had a princess to distract.

Well it hadn't worked out that way.

Her Majesty's hair flew wildly around her too-pink face as she paced out her anger and fear. By now Marceline had been gone for almost twenty four hours, the boys had finished dinner and were playing with Billy in the gardens before bed and the princess had asked him if Marceline was awake already, she'd slept longer today than usual.

Bubblegum had been busy with the tedious adoption paperwork now that she'd gotten the formal approval of the crotchety old matriarch of the Dog family, so she'd apparently not noticed that Marceline was still gone until dinner. When she was absorbed in her work she wouldn't have noticed a meteor strike and since her kidnapping she'd been skittish and withdrawn, throwing herself into her duties more than ever. He'd brought a sandwich and mug of tea to her study when she'd missed dinner and she'd distractedly asked about the vampire.

"She didn't come back this morning? I thought she'd be back by now." he stammered in reply, fresh panic flooding him. It shouldn't take that long for her to return, what if Hunson had tried one of his mad schemes again? But that was entirely the wrong thing to say.

"What do you mean? I wasn't aware that she'd gone anywhere. Did she tell you she was going away?"

Bubblegum had fixed him with a suspicious gaze, he shifted uncomfortably and muttered an uncomfortable lie about knowing nothing. She saw right through it, like she always did.

And the princess had pushed the remaining paperwork to one side and stormed out to search the palace, muttering darkly to herself. A half hour later she was back, vampireless, and as panicked as a half drowned cat.

It was an awful thing, to lie to his mistress that way. Peppermint hated it but he had been thinking about it all day and had to come to the conclusion that as little as he wanted to disobey the princess he had no choice but to keep quiet.

If he told her what he knew she'd want to know _how_ he knew and that would mean explaining why he had a desk full of stolen dark objects in his rooms. If he told and somehow managed to gloss over how he came by his information, the Vampire Queen herself would quite possibly eviscerate him on her return. Because Peppermint Butler was fairly sure he knew what Marceline's next move was going to be, he was extraordinarily intelligent compared to most of his Candy brethren.

He was still unsure how the Nightosphere figured into her plans and that made him twitchy and nervous. Anything involving Marceline willingly being back under Hunson's influence was completely off script, he'd not figured that would ever be something he'd need a contingency for. Peppermint Butler did not like being nervous, he did not like not knowing where things figured into other people's plans.

He hoped for everyone's sake that the conclusions he'd come to were right or else he might be forced to do something particularly unpleasant to the vampire.

"Peps, _please_. I need to know where she is. What if she isn't coming back this time?"

And her Majesty sounded so worn and dejected that it nearly cracked his resolve. Her eyes were shining with unshed tears and as he watched she seemed to almost flatten, her hot anger slipping away and leaving just raw heartbreak in its place as she wrapped her arms around herself and shivered against her panic. The last time the vampire had gone missing had been bad but the princess hadn't reacted like this, her panic and terror were products of her recent kidnapping, emotional scars that he wished with all his heart he could heal for her. Last time Marceline had gone off to party with her old rock friends and just lost track of time. It was an easy thing for a timeless immortal to forget. She'd stayed away for over a week and on her return the screaming match had been of epic proportions, enough that the staff sometimes still whispered about it. Peppermint Butler fervently hoped that this time would not end the same way or worse. He tried to think of the best possible explanation because somehow it was also now a pretty likely one. Even Peppermint could see that Marceline had changed.

"Your Majesty. Please try to understand that I have very good reasons for not sharing my suspicions of her whereabouts with you, I assure you that to the best of my knowledge Marceline is safe and well and will be back as soon as she can be. And you know she loves you, it's plain to see. She would not just leave without a word." he said as calmly as possible, patting her hand soothingly. In his head he added, _do not make a liar of me, vampire._

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, P-Butts."

They both whirled around at the unexpected voice. Bubblegum's anger flared again instantly and she was on her feet, practically shaking with rage.

One very nervous and tired looking Vampire Queen hovered cautiously in the doorway with a smile that was trying and failing to be confident pinned to her face. Peppermint stared between the two women, almost scorched by the tension in the air. She didn't look like Hunson had possessed her or worked some other dark magic on her, she just looked a little hung over. He let his shoulders fall in relief.

And, _yes!_ He'd been right! Sticking unobtrusively out of a pocket was the very same little wooden box her father kept hidden in his personal safe, the best possible and only really acceptable reason for her absence. Benediction was sweet; wordlessly he bowed to them both and hurried from the room with just enough forethought to keep the grin off his face until he was past Bubblegum and could tip Marceline a surreptitious wink.

...

That day had been no more restful for Marceline, really. She woke with an absolutely world class hangover, one of her worst ever. For a minute she stared at the poster clad ceiling of her old bedroom in the Nightosphere in confusion; why the hell was she here of all places? Why was her heart lazily beating, slowly pulsing blood full of corrosive alcohol toxins around her body and into her brain? She only let her heart beat when she drank, had she been drinking?

Slowly, like bubbles moving through tar, her memories of the day before came back to her.

The funeral service for Joshua. That stupid Jared Dog and his awkward questions and poor sweet Bonnibel looking like she was being crucified standing there stuttering out her answers.

Coming to a decision. A big one.

Then racing off to the palace to find the stash of bug milk she knew Peppermint Butler kept in his rooms before she could think better of it or talk herself out of it. Shape shift herself in under the crack in the bottom of the door because he hadn't been around and it was easier to shift than pick the lock or track him down. Discovering that not only did the duplicitous little creep have bug milk in his desk, he had one of her old shirts and letters and a copy of her Royal Seal too and they'd be having _words_ when she got back, make no mistake. Because now she knew who had summoned the girls and while she was objectively thankful they'd been there when she needed them she did not enjoy being manipulated like that.

Coming to the Nightosphere and managing for once to pleasantly surprise her father by casually strolling into his office, sitting neatly at his desk and announcing that she'd legitimately killed the Lich. And the heart to heart they'd had afterwards, knowing he was at least making the effort to understand her point of view. Wow, that was pretty blindsiding. She'd expected to have to fight tooth and nail with him to get her way but it seemed that she'd finally hit on a way of doing that without screaming. Who knew diplomacy actually worked?

And he'd given her the box! He kept the photo of the boys but that was alright, she would get another one once she got home. Wait. When did she start thinking of the candy palace as 'home'?

Hitting up the town, meeting a few old friends she hadn't seen in a while. Having to remember that when people bowed and reverently murmured 'Lady Abadeer' they were referring to her and that she shouldn't glance over her shoulder to see who they were talking to. Drinking. Drinking more. Celebrating that not only was she still almost-alive despite the best efforts of the evillest being in existence but now had two lovely boys and an absolutely bloody gorgeous- _Oh Grod no I didn't tell Bonnie where I was going!_

Marceline tried to shoot upright in panic but the room lurched and span dangerously and she had to lie down again before she was sick. She didn't have time for this crap, she needed to get home! And now she had to focus on making her liver work and a whole bunch of other ridiculous bodily functions that she didn't have the patience to deal with right now. She closed her eyes tightly because this was going to _hurt_ and she hated doing it, she'd sworn long ago that she was done with forcing her body to be alive for brief periods.

But needs must when the devil came knocking, that's what Simon used to say. She thought vaguely that there was something terribly ironic in her lying in the Nightosphere hungover as hell remembering that particular saying but it hurt too much to think about it so she didn't really appreciate it.

Concentrating all of her latent demon and vampire magic into herself she forced her liver to become super-efficient and super absorbent as well as shape shifting it to be significantly bigger. At the same time she vibrated her heart dangerously fast, or what would have been dangerously fast if she'd been mortal, pumping blood at ridiculously high pressures through her organs to filter out the toxins left over from the various liquors she'd drank the night before.

As fast as the liver cells died she regenerated them, ignoring the burning pains that shot through her body at the abuse. Her brain fizzed and she focused on regenerating the patchy damage the alcohol had done to her neurons. More pain lanced through her head like hot needles.

It only took a few excruciating minutes to filter the worst of the toxins from her body and regenerate the damage they'd caused. Sitting up gingerly Marceline took a moment to appreciate how much she liked the world when it wasn't whirling around her like a fairground ride. She grabbed the scorched wooden box from where it sat innocently on her night stand then allowed herself a slap in the head for being so damn stupid and floated over to the door, wrenching it open and making for Hunson's office. She was so very glad she could fly; stumbling around half blind still smelling like drink was not a look she wanted anyone to see on her, least of all her father. She used a subtle shape shift to hide the evidence of exhaustion on her face. Sometimes her vampire powers were actually kinda useful.

"Dad," she announced, crashing into his office with a little less decorum than she'd intended, "I need to get back, I've got so much stuff to do today. Its been great but I need you to open the portal now, please."

Hunson looked up in surprise from his paperwork and nodded, smiling knowingly at her still slightly rumpled state. How was he even awake let alone walking around like he didn't drink her under the table last night? She would have shaken her head but was still afraid it would cause another pulse of pain through her newly healed brain.

"By all means. Let me know about your happy news as soon as you get an answer, and I'll look forward to dinner next weekend with the family." he replied with a sly smile.

 _Ha! He thinks I forgot! Well I didn't, I remember perfectly well inviting him to- wait. No. Bonnibel is actually going to murder me for this._

Hunson murmured the words and the portal flickered to life behind him. With a brief "thanks Daddy" and a pat down to check she had everything she needed Marceline hurtled through and out into the courtyard of the palace. It was a few minutes past sunset, she'd been away just under twenty four hours. Marceline winced internally, Bonnie must be furious.

Her speed picked up as she swept through the courtyard, barely slowing to wave at Billy and the boys as she rushed past.

"Look guys," she heard Billy say to the boys as she barreled into the palace, "your Mom's home!" Great, so even Billy had noticed she was gone. She had an awful feeling it wasn't going to be an easy discussion with Bonnie when she found her.

Bonnibel was in her study with Peppermint, Marceline only had to follow the scent of strawberries and panicked fury. She paused in the doorway, instinctively sliding into invisibility when she realised they were talking about her. It wasn't spying, really, was it? She lived there too now, so it wasn't really spying. No, she told herself, just scouting out how the emotional landscape lay before wading chin deep into it.

"-if she isn't coming back this time?" Bonnie was saying in a desolate voice. Marcy could hear the tears in those words and her heart clenched painfully, still sluggishly beating to get rid of the last of the crud she'd drank. She'd made Bonnie question that she might have just up and left without even saying goodbye? It hurt to even consider it but there wasn't time to feel too guilty because Peppermint Butler was replying and she was very curious to know what he would say.

"Your Majesty. Please try to understand that I have very good reasons for not sharing my suspicions of her whereabouts with you, I assure you that to the best of my knowledge Marceline is safe and well and will be back as soon as she can be. And you know she loves you, it's plain to see. She would not just leave without a word."

Well he wasn't telling about where she'd gone, anyway. Lucky for him too because she'd only been half joking when she'd threatened to eat him, although she was less angry with him than she had been yesterday now she'd had chance to think about it. It wasn't the nicest thing that he could have said about her but it wasn't the worst either, and at least Peppermint Butler had confidence in her feelings for the princess. She let herself slip back to visibility and opened her mouth to say something, _anything_.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, P-Butts."

And then her brain caught up with her mouth and she grimaced because that was absolutely the worst thing she could have said, cocky and brash and not at all as witty out loud as it had sounded in her stupid head. Peppermint and Bonnibel were staring at her, the little butler like he'd seen a ghost and Bonnie like she was about to make one.

With a hasty bow Peppermint hurried out of the room and thoughtfully closed the door after himself after tipping her a thoroughly confusing wink, good thing too because years ago they'd had this and various other rooms they used mostly for rowing in soundproofed and it wouldn't work in the same way with the door open.

Marceline was pretty sure she was about to make a colossal fool of herself anyway so it'd be better not to leave any witnesses. Bonnibel was still staring at her like she could burn the other woman to ashes with her furious eyes.

"You had best have a fucking good explanation for this." she hissed, and Marcy had to repress a smile because it was almost word for word the exact same thing she'd said when the girls had shown up unannounced. At least she'd solved that little mystery now. And bonus, no kneeling in the throne room this time! Although perhaps this was one of those situations where it might actually have been appropriate.

 _I should have thought this through more carefully. I should have planned what I was going to say._

But there wasn't time for that now, so Marceline just opened her mouth and started talking.

"I meant to leave you a note to say where I was going. But I was kinda in a hurry and then I was kinda mad because I worked out who sent the letter to summon the girls here- no, it doesn't matter right now- and I had to go see my Dad." she started.

"Why?" Bonnie's single word reply was so hard it could have cut her. It contained so many other questions, of course Bonnie wasn't content just to knowing _where_ Marceline had gone, she was too brilliant and analytical for that.

Marcy ran her hands through her hair distractedly, pushing it back from her face.

"I heard what Joshua's relatives were asking you and I think you replied brilliantly, by the way. But finding the boys, it made me think about family. About my own family and how it's kinda important. And I needed to go tell my Dad about everything and I really needed to ask for something back, something he'd been holding onto for me for a long time. I wanted him to know about Finn and Jake. See when they burned down my house they also burned the only things I had left from my mother. I don't even really remember her so much, just that she was prone to anxiety and had hair like mine and told the most amazing bedtime stories about mermaids and dragons and stuff. She was pretty, too. And sometimes we baked together. I was only five years old when almost everyone I'd even known in my life died from the bombs. I guess Dad came looking for me eventually but I was already off adventuring with Simon. Anyway he went to where our old house was and he took as many keepsakes as he could. Some of them I got when I was older, like Mom's painting of the lady and her baby and a couple of photos from when I was really small. And those bastards burned those things, things that were a thousand years old and completely irreplaceable."

To her credit, Bonnie wasn't interrupting. She listened intently with a small frown creasing her still damaged face, although her hands were clenched into fists so Marcy wasn't convinced that the imminent threat of screaming had completely passed. Or maybe Bonnie was just angry on her behalf, it was hard to be sure.

"Anyway I told my Dad about everything that happened here and that Finn didn't have anyone and that I was sorta kinda his stand in Mom now, especially since he has no family to object so there's no need for a custody battle, just a bit of paperwork signing. And I told him about your intentions towards Jake as well, and showed him a photo I took. He was impressed, I think."

She stopped to draw breath and run her forked tongue across dry lips. This was harder than she'd imagined it would be; difficult enough talking to her father about painful topics but telling anyone else about things that made her emotional was almost impossible, even when it was Bonnie. Knowing her lover was still pretty angry with her wasn't helping.

"You said you asked him for something?" Bonnie prompted after a second, her tone carefully neutral. That was a good sign, Marcy decided. Less like she was going to explode into a fit of rage any second.

"Yeah. Yeah, I did. Well first let me explain why it took so long. I sort of ended up going out for a couple of drinks with him and some of the demons I used to hang with. I mean, I wanted to make it quick and come home! But it was the first time Daddy ever approved of something I was doing, we had a really deep conversation about it and everything. He's so happy to be a Granddaddy, he wants to meet the boys! But don't worry, no sleepovers in the Nightosphere. And my condition was that he stop trying to force me to take over down there. He agreed! So I didn't want to be so rude and rush back when we were finally managing to have an actual adult conversation and stuff."

Bonnibel just nodded carefully as if that all made sense, not that Marceline had ever really explained all her reasons for staying in the grasslands instead of just agreeing to her father's wishes. Marceline was encouraged by the lack of screaming, she reached out and tentatively threaded her fingers through Bonnie's then smiled shyly when the other woman gripped back.

"I'm glad you finally managed to connect with your father." she mumbled, looking down at their entwined hands. "I just wish you could have told me that's what you were going to do. I was so worried, I thought I'd lost you again."

"I'm so sorry, love! I just didn't think. I guess it must be frustrating for you when other people don't do that, you're so smart, you do nothing but think things through. You're so wonderful." Marceline replied in a rush, feeling a blush creep onto her cheeks and not caring to try to stop it.

"Flatterer." and Bonnie reached over and kissed her on the cheek, very much surprising the other woman.

"You're not still mad at me?" Marceline asked, confusion colouring her tone. Bonnibel smiled at her and squeezed her hand reassuringly.

"I should be, probably. I was angry because I was hurt. I thought you'd changed, gotten more responsible and considerate. And when I couldn't find you I was so scared you hadn't, that you'd just decided it was all too much work because now the exciting imminent death part's finished we've just got each other and those two little boys. Parenting might not seem like such a fun adventure after all. And honestly? I was scared you were repulsed by me, because however well I heal you'll always be able to see my scars if you look closely. I thought perhaps you couldn't bear to look at me. But when you told me you went to see your Dad and keep him informed, well that's something old Marcy would never have done. She'd have laughed in my face if I suggested it and then we'd have had another argument about it. So yes, I can very much tell that you've changed and you didn't mean to hurt me."

Marceline didn't know what to say to that, other than the thing she'd been planning to say all along. She took a deep breath and gathered her nerves then fished the little wooden box out of her pocket.

"The favour I asked my dad for. It's the last of the things belonging to Mom that still exist." she explained, holding it out.

With a long practiced flick she popped the lid open, revealing a small handful of treasures. One was a black and white photo of a baby girl about the same age as Finn, with dark hair sticking up in unruly waves and what appeared to be mashed potato coating the lower half of her beaming face and a fair portion of her flowery little dress. Her pointed ears and fangs were very noticeable which was probably why Hunson had kept it; proof beyond doubt that she was his daughter if anyone dared question it.

There was also a string of slightly tarnished pearls, a tiny fang taped to a yellowed piece of card with the words _'Marcy's first tooth'_ written carefully underneath in flowing handwriting that looked nothing like Marceline's untidy scrawl, a dog eared and battered pocket sized copy of _The Jungle Books_ that shimmered slightly under some preservation magic and a tiny glass bottle heavily decorated in coloured paints that glowed when the light hit it. She'd never known what it had been used for originally, its contents had evaporated a thousand years ago. Perfume she assumed, probably something like the scent of summer roses that vaguely stirred memories of her childhood home in the back of her subconscious.

There was also a smaller box, this one little enough to fit into the palm of her hand and covered in a plush black velvet. She picked it up carefully while Bonnie was distracted by examining the photo and baby tooth. Inside this box was something she'd not seen in so long that she almost couldn't remember what it looked like. But she was certain it was beautiful, and that's what mattered.

Marceline let gravity claim her again, something she wasn't usually too comfortable doing. But this was something she was determined to do right. There was a slight _thunk_ as her knee collided with the polished wooden floor and Bonnie's attention slid back to her, mouth hanging open in shock when she realised what position Marcy had landed in. She held up a hand to prevent the princess from interrupting and let the words come out however they would.

"Listen, I was thinking about family, I told you that. And I wanted to do this right, I wanted to give you some wonderfully rehearsed speech about how amazing and brilliant you are. But I rushed off without thinking and I guess I rushed this without thinking too because I only have a few words instead of the hundreds you deserve. But I figured, if you want I can spend the rest of forever telling you all those good things you deserve to hear about yourself, if you want? I'll tell you every single day because you deserve to hear it as often as I can possibly tell you. And please never worry about your scars, I love each and every one of them. They tell me that you're brave and strong and that you are the very best person I've ever met. I love you, Bonnie. You're far too good for me and definitely the best thing that ever happened to me. So, uh, please will you marry me?"

She flicked open the black velvet box and they both looked down at her mother's ring, as beautiful and elegant as she remembered from all those years ago; a deep sapphire set into two twisted bands of silver with tiny shards of diamond set around either side of the stone adding a little sparkle to the whole piece. Her hands trembled slightly as she carefully pulled it from the box and reverently slid it only the ring finger of Bonnie's pale reattached hand. It fit beautifully. Marceline was certain it must be fate then, even though she didn't really believe in that garbage.

Bonnie lifted it up to examine it more closely, then tugged Marceline back to her feet and into a tight hug.

"Is that a yes?" she whispered shakily into the princess' hair.


	23. Chapter 23

**One more chapter and the epilogue after this and Foundlings is all wrapped up. Still trying to pin down the last few details on Continuum and still looking for someone to bounce my new project off but hopefully either or both of those longer fics will be ready to post. And we're very nearly just in time for the new series! And what a series it's shaping up to be. All the feels!**

 **Content Warning: Fireworks, implied sexual kinkiness, pie.**

* * *

It was so good to be right, Billy thought as he held his torch to the fuse of another firework. Not a single Candy Kingdom citizen had stormed the palace, formed a mob, spray painted derogatory graffiti or otherwise done anything at all to ruin Marceline and Bubblegum's happiness. Perhaps there were whispers amongst some malcontents but they'd always find something to whisper about, in the week since their announcement had gone public news of their engagement had mostly been met with slightly puzzled congratulations. Billy was genuinely thrilled for them.

Considering that more than half of the candy balls he'd attended required his hero expertise at some point during the proceedings it was nice to just be able to chill out and set off some fireworks without being called upon to slay anything.

And hang with his date, of course. That was the very best bit.

"Hey, how's it going Mr Firework Overseer?" Canyon laughed as she stepped out from the trapdoor to the battlements and handed him another glass of punch. "Looks like thirsty work!"

"Yup, but it's way more fun than fighting monsters. I'm glad security is tighter than a fish's biscuit tonight." he replied with a shrug, downing the glass in one mouthful. It looked more like a thimble in his big hands anyway but the thought was nice.

From their position on the tower he and Canyon had the most glorious view of the courtyard below. It was lit with hundreds of tiny fairy lights strung amongst the rose bushes and the evening's earlier soft music had been replaced with some heavier sounds when a couple of Marceline's old band mates had turned up and press ganged her into performing a few numbers with them. She hadn't exactly seemed unhappy about it anyway, the big show off. Her musical vampire friend had turned up too, they'd banded together with the two royal guard girls and spent a lot of the night cackling together over various long forgotten vampire jokes.

Billy had offered to go set off the fireworks then; perhaps it was his age but the loud music just seemed like so much irritating noise to him. There were ribbons and streamers and paper decorations everywhere, Olgar and Billy had hung them earlier in the day under Eagle's watchful supervision. It was a shame Emerald had left already but she'd never really been a fan of parties and her brush with almost being hacked to death had made her anxious to get back to her family, maybe even heal some of the rifts her joining the Guard had caused all those years ago.

Canyon came up behind Billy and nudged his shoulder, pointing down to where Olgar was dancing with Marceline's vampire friends, a dazed smile on his face. Eagle stood just behind him, trying and failing to hide her laughter behind her hand.

"Man sure likes his undead chicks, hm?" she asked teasingly. "Think it's something Eagle needs to be jealous of?"

Billy smiled and let another firework fly before he replied.

"Nah, Olgar's just got a weak and feeble mind, he can't help but fall for their funky vampire sex voodoo. Me, I prefer my women warmer and more alive." and he risked a sly grin in her direction.

Billy didn't want to rush things and he didn't want to jinx it. Canyon had been a little reserved with him since he'd gotten back in touch and he only had himself to blame. If he'd not walked out on her, not taken himself off into seclusion- but it was no use to dwell on the ifs and buts. He was hoping the romantic atmosphere in the air would help move them past the just-friends stage and back to where he wanted to be. If it took nearly dying for him to realise he wanted her in his life then he supposed he must owe the Lich a debt of gratitude.

Canyon was watching him closely with an unfairly cute lopsided smile across her face. Billy was trying not to notice it, busying himself with the last of the ballistics for a big finale; the ball was nearly over and Marceline had specifically asked him to make the end of the night as spectacular as he could and spare no expense on the fireworks.

He straightened up and watched them zoom off into the dark sky, lighting the entire palace and most of the kingdom with thousands of fizzing red and gold temporary stars that hung in the air for minutes after they'd first exploded. Canyon must have slid closer under cover of the explosions because she was right by his side now, sliding her arm around his waist. Billy froze, he was unsure what her intentions were and really didn't want to make the wrong move.

"Billy, why did you ask me here tonight?" she asked softly, leaning into him a little as if she were cold, although the summer night was mild and balmy.

Like always, Billy considered his answer carefully.

"Because," he finally replied, "I missed you. The Lich nearly finished me this time and I'm lucky to be alive. It makes a man think. And tonight is a celebration of love, and there's nobody I'd rather celebrate that with than you."

Canyon nodded as though they were all acceptable answers.

"Why did you agree to come?" Billy asked her curiously. He risked a glance down to her face; Canyon was scanning the crowds below saying their goodnights and wishing the happy couple all the best.

Instead of answering Canyon turned to face him and grabbed the front of his shirt, hauling the giant forwards and pressing her lips against his. After a few breathless moments when he carefully kissed her back she pulled away and looked up into the ageing hero's eyes, her smile slipping up a notch from sly to joyful.

"C'mon, don't make me say it. You know I suck at words, Billy." she told him. And Billy knew it, because he knew Canyon.

...

The day after their engagement party Marceline had fully intended to sleep in until late afternoon, but she was quickly learning that with two small children around that was just not going to happen.

"Momom!" Finn yelled happily right into her poor sensitive ear, tugging her hair hard enough to scalp her _again._ Jake yipped excitedly and stretched up to her other ear to bark loudly until with a small growl she gave up on pretending to be asleep and scooped them both up unexpectedly, making them scream with delight.

"You little monsters! Where's your Mama, huh? Why isn't she keeping you away from the big scary vampire?" and she shifted her face into a phantasm of terror, making both boys giggle wildly and prod at her fangs. She hugged them close for a moment, still awed every time she held them at how real and solid they were. Her boys. Her sons.

"Sorry sweetie, they were desperate to see you." Bonnie murmured from the doorway, where she was leaning cross armed watching the scene with a fond smile on her face. She shrugged off from the door and came forward to sit on the big bed, ruffling Finn's wispy blonde hair affectionately and leaning in for a sleepy kiss from her fiancée _._ _Fiancée_ , that felt so good.

"So I, uh, I've got to go away for a couple of days." she mumbled after she pulled back, inspecting her nails in embarrassment.

"Oh?" Marcy asked, sitting up and pulling Jake down into her lap from where he was attempting to climb her head. Bonnie made a face, like she was stuck between embarrassment and annoyance at whatever business she had away from the palace.

"Well spit it out then, I'm not a telepath you know." Marceline finally sighed, grabbing the other woman's hands to stop her picking at the mostly healed scabs still showing on her throat.

"It's the Earl of Lemongrab's birthday and he always invites me every year, I have no idea why because he doesn't particularly like my company." Bonnie muttered in a rush, avoiding Marceline's eye.

"Seriously? You're going to go have a _birthday party_ with Yellowbutt? Oh man, that is just too funny!" Marceline howled between gales of laughter. The boys joined in laughing too, although they had no idea why.

"It's not funny!" Bonnie replied, annoyed. "He makes me bring party hats and lemon drinks and we play party games with just the two of us. He screams if I win. And I have to stay overnight because he insists we have a _sleepover_. It's literally the worst."

Marceline wanted to reply but she was holding her sides and trying to stop the spasms of silent laughter because she'd already laughed so hard it hurt. Bonnibel took the opportunity to arrange her face into as sweet an expression as she could manage and adopt her most silvery tones.

"But if you wanted, if you think it sounds like so much fun, you could come with me. I'm sure Peppermint Butler would love to look after the boys while we're away."

Marceline stopped laughing abruptly and stared at her opened mouthed. It took her a couple of seconds to formulate a reply.

"No. No freaking way! Are you nuts, Bonnie? I'm not coming to some freaky sleepover party with a lunatic fruit! _No._ " she said with added emphasis when Bonnibel tried to use her finest puppy dog eyes. She would not agree to go, it sounded totally crazy and she'd get bored of laughing at Lemonbutt within half an hour and it would probably be the lamest thing she'd ever done in her unnaturally long life. Besides he'd probably insist that she sing 'Happy Birthday' to him and she refused to sing badly on principle but she also refused to sing nicely for Lemongrab. It was a conflict of interests. No no no, absolutely not.

"Fine." Bonnie exhaled with a frown. "You can stay here. I'll try to be as quick as I can but I really can't get out of it. I'll need to head off tonight so I can be there in good time tomorrow. Are you gonna be ok with the boys?"

"Yeah we'll have a blast! I'll feed them tons of candy, we can have some word fights, maybe go talk to some shifty looking strangers. Of course I'll be fine, love. I looked after Finn on my own didn't I?" Marcy replied with a grin. Bonnie muttered something that sounded suspiciously like _broken mirror_ , _sleep deprivation_ and _humans babies aren't nocturnal_ but Marceline graciously let it slide, she'd be grumpy too if she had to go to Lemongrab's birthday party. Which she didn't, because she was being a responsible parent and staying at home with the boys. She grinned again, being responsible was unexpectedly awesome.

They passed a really lovely afternoon in the rose garden with Finn and Jake playing with the little wooden blocks they loved so much and Marceline hidden under a large parasol providing enough shade for her to stretch out and enjoy the beautiful weather in relative safety. It was so good to see Bonnie relaxed and happy again, she thought. Not haunted by the memories of the Grimmalk's claws. And with her wounds almost healed it was easy to forget anything had ever happened, easy for them both to move on. She had to look closely now to see the scars, the slight shallow indentations in Bonnie's face that ran like tiny parallel ploughed furrows where the claws had gone deeper than just the first couple of layers of skin. Nobody who didn't know her well would even notice them.

As the afternoon worn on Marceline slipped into a light doze, listening to the giggles of their boys playing happily nearby and the hum of soft conversation Bonnibel kept up with them.

"Hey." Bonnie said gently as she ducked under the parasol, startling Marceline awake again. "We're gonna head back in, I've got to get ready to leave after dinner. You wanna sneak a couple of minutes without these little monsters? They're both ready for a snack and maybe a bath, I thought we could let Peppermint Butler handle that while you... help me pack?"

Marceline bit back a laugh, Bonnibel was adorable when she failed at innuendo. Instead she smiled, because 'helping her pack' sounded like a very good idea. She snagged a ruby red rose on their way back inside and sucked the colour out of it, just to keep her going. Finn grabbed it triumphantly as a parting gift when he was handed over to 'Pepeppep' who was more than happy to feed and bathe the little princes.

Peppermint Butler was surprisingly good with children, after a very respectful bow to them both (still cautious around Marceline after their 'little talk' the other day) he conversed with the boys in a low serious voice as they walked off towards the nursery, nodding solemnly to something Jake had said and making the puppy giggle tiredly.

The moment the nursery door was closed warm lips fastened onto hers and warm hands slid under her shirt; the scent of strawberries and roses and sunshine filled her and Marceline let herself be led back up the corridor to their bedroom, feeling so content she wondered if it might all just be a really vivid dream.

"Is it weird," Bonnie asked between deep kisses, "that I find it kinda sexy when you're an excellent parent?"

"Mmm, nah, I think you're a pretty hot Mama too." she replied, feeling her shirt tugged free and the warm summer air on the skin of her back.

"So what did you need me to help with? Getting your overnight bag down from the shelf in the closet?" Marcy asked between kisses, drifting backward to the bed with a sly look on her face and hair mussed from her lover's hands

Bonnibel reached across the bed and swatted her with a pillow, trying to look stern around her giggles.

Later that night when her princess swooped off on The Morrow, Marceline waved goodbye feeling the odd sensation on her shoulder where Bonnie had softly bitten her, of all things. It was a weird feeling, not something she'd chosen to heal just yet because she was still trying to figure out if she liked the way it ached. She decided after a while that she did, although she certainly wouldn't want it to happen every time. But it was pretty nice being marked as Bonnie's.

...

It was with no small measure of apprehension that Tree Trunks arrived at the palace the next morning. The advert had been quite clear, their Majesties required a nanny for their two delightful little boys and she was very confident she fit the bill. It helped that Jake wasn't a stranger, she'd even brought him a present. But it was daunting, she'd looked after babies before but never royal babies and never babies that had two mothers who were powerful immortal beings. Still, even the diapers of the sons of the most powerful women in Ooo were the same when they were dirty so she had every confidence in her ability to take care of the princes.

But she hoped secretly that it would the Princess Bubblegum who would interview her, the vampire lady gave her the creeps a little. If she was being philosophical she knew that it took all sorts to make a world and there must be plenty of people out there who disliked tiny elephants, for one reason or another. She resolved not to pre-judge Queen Marceline, she'd seemed a nice enough sort when they'd briefly met at Joshua's wake.

So when Peppermint Butler shook her hand and showed her into the drawing room with a plummy "Queen Marceline will see you shortly", Tree Trunks fought hard not to be too nervous. She turned to look at herself in the mirror hanging in the corner of the room, straightening the little bow tied around her tail nervously.

"I am a confident, experienced nanny who has already looked after little Jake before when he lived with Joshua and Margaret. I even brought him an apple pie, it's his favourite. I am more than capable of being a nanny for the little princes." she told her reflection in the strongest voice she could muster. "And," she added feeling her confidence build with each affirmation, "I am not afraid of vampire ladies; especially not ones who play the viola beautifully and seem very nice when you look past the fangs and all the dark eye makeup."

She nodded firmly to herself then narrowed her eyes when she heard a snigger.

"Are you laughing at me? Because I am deadly serious!" she told her reflection sternly. "I am not going to take no sass from a mirror!"

"I'm right behind you, Miss Tree Trunks. Vampire, remember? No reflection?" a soft voice said with a smile still in its tone. She whirled around to find the very same nice vampire lady she'd been talking about sitting behind the desk, green eyes alight with humour as she surveyed the little elephant.

"I'm glad you don't find me too intimidating," Marceline continued pleasantly, though the traces of humour still hung around her face. "Most people aren't so honest unless they're brandishing torches and pitchforks. It's actually kinda refreshing."

Tree Trunks nodded cautiously; Marceline probably did mean that. 'Refreshing' wasn't entirely bad, she could have made a worse first impression.

"Are the little princes going to be joining us?" she asked carefully, still quite unsure of herself. "And the princess? I made enough apple pie for everyone." Tree Trunks added hopefully.

Marceline shook her head a little sadly. "No, Bonnibel is busy on official Candy Kingdom business so she left me to hold the fort. I'll be honest, I'm not great at this interviewing biz. I'd much prefer if she was here to handle it. But the boys are outside with Eagle Mask so if you wanna see them we can go soon. I just need to scribble down some answers to these dumb standard questions real quick."

Tree Trunks wondered briefly who 'Bonnibel' was and why the princess had sent her on official business, but then she realised it must be Princess Bubblegum's first name. Well it made sense, Marceline would hardly call her 'Princess' or 'Your Majesty' when they were alone together. They were officially and item now. She tried to imagine Wyatt calling her "Miss Trunks" all the time and it was pretty funny, but still strange to imagine the princess having a first name or a nickname or relaxing in private after her princessing duties were finished for the day. Strange to imagine her having a fiancée too, but the lady in question was sitting right across from her. Marceline was squinting at a clipboard full of small neat writing, grinning to herself every few lines.

"OK!" she said with a big smile, "First question. What experience do you have?"

"Oh, well I've babysat Jake and Jermaine since they were newborns, and I volunteered at the grasslands orphanage for a few years. I've worked as a nanny for a few different families and changed more than a couple of diapers." Tree Trunks replied, thinking back to her time reading to the little boys and girls in the orphanage. She was going to read to the princes too, she knew Jake loved reading and colouring especially.

"Alright, that's good. More experience than I had when I started looking after Finn at least. It took me a while to work out how to clean him up, you know, with all the, er, boy bits? And this one time when I'd just got him clean and I was trying to find a new diaper he- well never mind, I'm sure you can guess where that story was going. Anyway, question two. Why do you want to be a nanny for our boys?"

Tree Trunks considered for a while.

"Like I already told you, I've known Jake from the day he was born. Funny business that, but he seems a good normal boy." Marceline looked at her sharply, a frown creasing her forehead. Tree Trunks carried on obliviously. "And I've never even seen a human baby but I do just _love_ babies. Besides I never met a being alive who didn't like my apple pie. I'll just bet little Prince Finn will like it too."

"Finn does love apples." Marceline agreed distantly, remembering the first thing she'd ever fed him. Was he bigger now than he had been that day? Perhaps. He sat a little more comfortably on her hip in her memory; her little boy was starting to grow up already.

They concluded the interview with a range of questions including "Have you ever been possessed by a spirit of ancient evil?" and "The Candy Kingdom is an equal opportunities employer, please describe your alignment as honestly as possible."

Tree Trunks was pretty confident that she had done well, although she was still a little annoyed to be interviewed by the vampire and not anybody that the scent of her fresh baked pies could have had an effect on. Marceline was smiling at her enigmatically and occasionally checking the notes she'd scrawled on the official interview record.

"Right, well that all seems great. You know Jake and you're definitely the best candidate we've had, so will you be able to start tomorrow or do you need to give your current employer some notice? I'd consult with Bonnie but she did put me in charge, she can't be too annoyed I made an executive decision." she said, clicking her pen distractedly. The smile that spread across Tree Trunks' face was bright enough to light up the moon.

"Oh! Miss Queen, are you offering me the job? Oh well, I'm flattered! I can come in tomorrow and get the little princes up for their breakfasts, I can bring them more apple pie!" she cried happily, already planning all the fun they'd have together in the coming weeks. Marceline laughed too, holding our her cold grey hand to shake on it.

"Yeah Tree Trunks, you are definitely the right candidate. And you can just call me Marceline you know, none of this 'Miss Queen' junk. It makes me feel my age."

And with that they went off to meet Eagle and the boys for lunch. Tree Trunks' apprehension about working for an immortal bloodsucker was totally forgotten in the excitement of seeing Jake and handing over her very best apple pie to him.

...

Once lunch was over and Tree Trunks had departed with a promise to return in the morning Marceline went to hang out with her boys. Her shoulder still ached pleasantly and she felt weirdly happy, like things were just a little too perfect. She'd not risked a bite of apple pie, not wanting to deal with the horrifying situation that would occur if she actually had to use her digestive system again any time soon. It had been awful enough just being hungover after she'd been to see her Dad, there was a very good reason she chose to let her body be technically dead most of the time and it was pretty much entirely because certain bodily functions were extra disgusting to the undead.

 _Born with the moon in Cancer,_

 _Choose him a name he will answer to._

 _Call him Finn, so the winters cannot faaaade him,_

 _Call him Finn, for the-_ uhhh _\- women who raaaaise him._

 _Little Fiiiiinn, have a happy ending._

He laughed so hard every time he heard his own name that it made it difficult for Marcy to finish her song. She grinned at the boys; every time she sang Finn's name Jake joined in and howled with enthusiasm. Just lately she'd not had so much motivation to write her own lyrics so she'd fallen back to old favourites from her dearly departed pre-war record collection. One day Marceline was going to track down another copy of each and every one of her beloved albums and she'd raise both her boys to love and respect the vinyl. But for now she'd just have to improvise with an acoustic guitar and some adjusted lyrics.

A knock sounded on the nursery door and she paused, shouldering her guitar and calling "It's open!". It had been less than twenty four hours since Bonnie had left and so far she'd avoided any actual royal responsibility except the interviewing by helpfully delegating to eager candy citizens. But something told Marceline that this wasn't going to be as easy as choosing judges for the talent show when a fiery head poked around the door and bowed to her.

"Hey, Flambo! What's up? Been a while, man. How's the Kingdom?" she called to him, getting up and depositing the boys back into their playpen. Flambo shuffled nervously, looking around the room and trying not to let his flames touch any of the abundant soft furnishings.

"Hey, Marceline. Congratulations on the engagement. And the family. Is your affianced around? I have a message to personally deliver to her."

"Nah man, she's off at the world's lamest birthday party. I dunno when she'll be back. Is it urgent?" Despite being the Flame Ambassador Flambo usually didn't like being inside buildings that weren't part of his own Kingdom due to the risk of accidentally burning them to the ground, so she figured it must be something that required some pretty quick attention if he'd actually entered the depths of the palace to find her. Flambo fidgeted awkwardly, inspecting his embers to avoid her eye.

"I'm only supposed to deliver the message to Princess Bubblegum." he whined, shifting his weight restlessly. When Marceline just shrugged and turned back to the boys Flambo sighed. "Fine, I suppose that since you're settling down and adopting adorable orphans with her the princess hasn't got any secrets from you, right? You'd better come with me, you might be actually be kinda useful."


	24. Chapter 24

**And here we are, the final chapter. I'll post the epilogue as soon as this is up, since it's not a full chapter. Thank you all for reading and for your kind words, it's been really lovely to get back into posting full length stories again. So if you feel like reviewing I'd be super grateful, thank you again for taking the time to read. You guys are all so lovely!**

 **Content Warning: burns, child neglect, feels.**

* * *

"You want me to fix a big lamp?"

Marceline was perplexed. It was literally a big lamp, in the middle of the Flame King's throne room.

Flambo winced as they drew nearer and she cocked her head, trying to figure out why the Fire Kingdom would need a very big lamp with a very small flame burning brightly in the middle.

"I, yeah- it's a big lamp that we need you to fix, because the, uh, the flame it holds is starting to burn through the bottom and it's pretty dangerous if it gets out, we can't have it just going wild in here. Your princess built it and the Flame King wanted her to fix it."

Something about his tone was off. Something about this whole setup was off actually. Marceline couldn't for the life of her understand why Bonnie had been involved in the building of a big lamp in the Fire Kingdom, even if there was a super dangerous flame contained in the middle. She didn't get why a Kingdom of fire elementals would ask someone who wasn't made of fire to get involved in their business, they knew better than anyone how to control fire. It bothered Marceline that she couldn't work it out, bothered her that Bonnibel hadn't mentioned anything about it to her. It was probably because it was no big deal but a small and nagging part of her brain reminded her that there was sometimes another reason Bonnie didn't tell her things; when she was deeply ashamed of her actions.

It didn't happen often but it had sometimes been an issue when she'd done something of questionable morality for what she considered good reasons that maybe weren't as good as they first appeared when examined through someone else's eyes. No matter what the general population thought of her Marceline was not evil, she might have been accused of losing track of her moral code several times but in truth she'd had to reel in Bonnibel's more dubious excesses more than once when the princess had gotten carried away with herself. She got the awful feeling that this was going to be another one of those occasions.

"So what's this thing for?"

Flambo hesitated, fidgeting and avoiding her gaze.

"Umm, see that little flame there is gonna get bigger and it's already too hot for the Flame King to control and he's scared that when it does get bigger it'll overwhelm him. Keeping it contained was the only option." he replied shiftily. Something about that didn't quite add up for Marceline.

"So how does he know it'll get bigger? If you just don't give it fuel it'll die down, right?"

"Kill... it? I suppose he's probably thought about it, even contained he's scared of it."

"And he keeps an intense fire he's scared of in the throne room? Weird." Marceline replied distractedly.

She hovered closer and examined the lamp base from all angles. The bottom was beginning to show some discolouration and strange warping in the metal that came from intense heat, although the flame seemed to be burning at a less intense temperature right now. Marceline was ready to heave a sigh of relief because it really did appear to be nothing more than a big lamp with a bright flame in the middle, nothing dubious about it. Then the little flame suddenly sat upright and stared at her intently with a glum face. Her heart dropped to her feet; shock and horror shot through her until her head buzzed like it was full of angry bees. That wasn't just a dangerous flame.

There was a tiny girl just a bit older than her own sons trapped in the giant lamp. Flambo had said it was because she somehow burned more brightly than the other flame elementals, because the Flame King had been frightened of her. It made Marceline feel sick. Her vision blurred to a tunnel with shock. She was unable to look away from the girl, she'd never seen a child that young with such a despondent air about her. This was possibly the most shocking thing Bonnibel had ever had a part in.

"It's a prison." she whispered, voice cracking as she stared into the lonely little face behind the glass. She could feel the anger boiling just underneath the waves of shock still rocking her, any moment the flame people were going to be dealing with a giant angry tentacle monster if they didn't get some answers for her _right now_.

"Flambo. Why is that little girl in prison?" Marceline's words came out dangerously softly now, murderous rage making her sound almost gentle. Almost. She radiated anger so cold that it felt like it could have dimmed his flame, sending him cowering at her feet.

"Please! It wasn't my fault, your princess put her there for her own safety! And the King, he wouldn't allow her to be free when she's so powerful, she's a threat to his rule!"

"SHE'S A BABY!" Marceline roared, her own blue flame sparking from her fingertips to accentuate each word. For the third time in the last few weeks she felt so angry she almost lost to it completely. Nobody imprisoned babies for no other crime than being born! Least of all beautiful and gentle women she was engaged to marry. It just made no sense. Flambo was replying in whimpers but she ignored him, he was part of it too so he was lucky to be alive right now.

And then she was flying, hovering up against the glass and staring at the little girl sitting alone in the lamp. She stood up and toddled over to the edge of her prison, pressing her tiny flame hands against the place where Marceline's bigger grey hands touched. It burned but she just healed it straight away, what was the point in being a vampire if she was bound by the same laws as mortals? When she thought about it, that seemed like a really good argument. She didn't have to just stand by and watch it continue.

As if in a dream she heard herself say "Stand back darling, I'm gonna get you out of there."

The little girl backed away, eyes huge with apprehension. And then Marceline's unnaturally strong fist crashed hard through the glass, shattering it into a million pieces all around her. Probably it hurt a lot, she was sure she heard her knuckles shatter as well, but they healed instantly and she didn't even feel it beyond the glacial anger swirling like cold steam through her. Flambo was still cowering on the ground, begging her to just help fix the _fucking baby prison_ and not to do the only possible right thing. But it didn't matter because now there was nothing but empty air between her and the little girl, who was sitting down again and blinking hard at the remains of her lamp.

She shivered a little when the floating woman slowly approached her but didn't resist when she was gently picked up and cradled. Marceline's skin bubbled and blistered instantly from the heat and her shirt burst into flames but she paid it no attention, she was too busy staring at the little girl. They put a baby in a prison, just because she was different. It was too much, too hard to understand. She couldn't believe Bonnibel had had anything at all to do with it, what had she been thinking? Marcy let herself float back down towards ground level, back towards the man who was going to answer all her questions.

"How long has she been locked up, Flambo?" she asked in her silkiest, deadliest tone. She had no idea if she could drain the life out of a flame elemental but if he didn't answer her questions the so help her Grod she'd try.

"About five months. Please don't kill me." he whimpered, wrapping his flaming hands over his head and trembling uncontrollably.

Five months would have been about the time when Bonnibel was in her deep depression, after Marceline had left. Well that explained why she'd not seen the wrong in locking up a baby. It was unlikely to have even been her idea, Bonnie was very lacking in creativity when she was depressed. But she'd still built the damn lamp in the first place so she must have know what she was doing. Marcy didn't know how to feel about that.

She knew in her heart of hearts Bonnibel had a dark streak and saw morality differently than most other people. But she also knew that she'd never intentionally hurt a child. So the only conclusion that she could come to was that Bonnie knew it was generally wrong to imprison babies but might have thought she was acting in the child's best interests somehow, especially if she child had an evil father who was somehow a threat to her safety. It made a sick, twisted kind of sense.

"You're burning! Marceline, hold still!" Flambo yelled when he risked a glance up to her. She was indeed on fire, healing the burns as fast as they appeared but not even feeling them through the red mist of her anger and shock. Flambo flicked his hand at her and suddenly she was coated in a kind of flickering blue flame and the heat went away, her burns healed and stayed healed behind a cloak of thick bat fur to cover the patches where her clothes were burned away. The little baby in her arms stared harder at her, prodding her slightly in surprise.

"What did you do to me?" she asked in shock, though the anger still ran like a torrent under the surface.

"Flame shield. It acts as a barrier to fire, so you can't be burnt by the princess." Flambo replied still eyeing her cautiously thought clearly heartened that she hadn't tried to hurt him yet.

"And you didn't think of just casting it on her instead of imprisoning her? Wait. Princess?" Marceline repeated slowly. Her brain whirred at near light speed. She'd heard a rumour that the Flame King had been threatened by a prophecy, that he'd dealt with the problem 'harshly'. Well locking his infant daughter in a lamp was pretty damn harsh.

"Flambo." she said, straightening up and letting the old loathed mantel of command fall back around her shoulders. "I am formally requesting a royal audience with his Majesty the Flame King. I need you to act in your role of Ambassador for me. Go fetch him, tell him the Vampire Queen needs to urgently speak with him."

...

"Well. This is unexpected. To what do I owe the pleasure, bloodsucker?"

Flame King was in no mood to play nice with an arrogant walking corpse. And the bitch had Phoebe out of her lamp, helpfully that moron Flambo had stopped the child from burning the vampire to ashes. A missed opportunity if ever he saw one. But what she had to say was totally unexpected.

"I'm invoking the Fostership Law. For the good of my own Kingdom, I have no heir and you have plenty. You clearly do not value this one," she held up Phoebe who regarded him with solemn eyes, "so I'm going to take her and raise her to be the Vampire Princess."

Flame King stared at the pale woman for a long moment. Then he burst out laughing, a raw grating noise that echoed and boomed around the cavernous throne room.

"No heir? Vampire Princess? You're insane, you stupid bitch! You have two other stolen children in your pretty pink castle! One of them is even a human, you could turn him when he's of age and have yourself a perfectly good Vampire Prince! What kind of game are you playing, you idiot? Those laws are hundreds of years old!"

Marceline's eyes narrowed and flared a dull red behind the flickering flame shield, they didn't completely fade back to green when she spoke next.

"Who do you think wrote those laws?" she hissed, face shimmering for a second and shifting into a horror mask. "Have you forgotten that both Bonnibel and me are hundreds of years old, you creep? She made damn sure that nobody like you would ever be able to abuse their own children again." It was true, after she'd confessed how her father tried to use her as his puppet Bonnie had introduced a cross-Kingdom motion at the next grand meeting of Ooo royalty and every single monarch had signed up to it. Nobody would tolerate child abuse amongst their peers. That was four hundred years ago, it had never been repealed despite the fact she'd more or less patched things up with her Dad and so far as Marceline was aware the Fostership Law hadn't been invoked in at least two hundred years.

"The palace isn't mine anyway, it belongs to Princess Bubblegum. I'm just a guest at her leisure." she continued, ignoring the way he snorted at the word 'leisure'. He knew what kind of leisure activities the princess was involved in. And with a _corpse_ too, it was disgusting.

"As for Finn the Last Human, his legal guardian hasn't officially been assigned yet. I do believe the local authorities are having some difficulty deciding who's jurisdiction he falls under. So as it stands, until the paperwork comes through, until the wedding when I legally become Jake the Dog's stepmother, I am a queen without an heir and you are a king who is willfully mistreating one of your own."

He stopped laughing. It seemed the crazy undead bitch was actually serious.

"You don't have a Kingdom anymore. The day I let some night walking carcass raise one of my own daughters is the day my Kingdom freezes over!" he snarled, flame flaring around him. His guards shifted nervously on either side of his throne; it was no secret that his own people were uncomfortable with the way he had dealt with the Phoebe problem. They probably thought he should just let the bitch walk out with his daughter.

And she was laughing at him! The bitch was fucking laughing at him! He shot an angry fireball straight at her head but of course because of that interfering traitor Flambo it just fizzled to nothingness when it touched her shielded skin. His frustration built and he roared wordlessly, letting flame loose from his body in a hazy wave of rage.

"No Kingdom, you're right. But at least three vampire subjects still living so I do qualify. Shall we put it to a vote, your Majesty? You really want me to call an emergency grand meeting of Ooo royalty and see what they have to say about it? Do you think Ice King will object to a ready made excuse to invade and expand his territory? I know perfectly well why you've never tried the same thing against him. Too weak, he'll snuff you out with a single breath." Marceline replied with a humourless grin.

He paused. Thought. Let more flame build around him. Seethed because she was _right_ , dammit there was no way the other royals wouldn't side with her and that ridiculous pink confectionery woman. And Ice King would waste no time in invading with his terrible cold, especially if he was backed up by his pet vampire. Flame King knew a secret, knew that Marceline was somehow very fond of the crazy old man and that he wouldn't take much persuading from her to bring his blizzards howling into the very heart of the Fire Kingdom. His eyes narrowed to fiery slits.

"That child is touched by prophecy. If you take her out of the Kingdom then you'd better be damn certain she stays gone. If she returns here then her life and your subjects are forfeit. If I see so much as a snowflake without provocation I will burn that crazy old wizard to death and leave his charred bones on your doorstep. Those are my terms." He was not going to give up without a fight.

"You think you can threaten the Vampire Queen?" Marceline hissed, rising into the air with Phoebe tucked carefully into one arm. She was beginning to fully transform in anger, growing bigger and muscular, sprouting claws and fangs. Her face morphed further into a terror mask and her voice dropped to a deep lupine growl. "You think you can tell me what your 'terms' are? If you touch one spark on her head or any soul at all under my protection I will personally destroy you, as I destroyed the Rebels of the Citadel, the General's mercenary army and the Lich himself. If you come near me or my family, if you threaten or even contact Phoebe again so long as you live I swear to Grod I will torture you to death in the very coldest of blood."

And that more than anything else struck home to the Flame King how very badly he had underestimated her. The Rebels of the Citadel was an old legend from before his Kingdom formed about how a single vengeful queen and her four faithful Guards had destroyed two hundred rebels that attempted to assassinate her, leaving not a single one of them alive even when they begged for mercy. The General's mercenary army was an entirely new one; if the rumours were true then the Vampire Queen had ripped a hundred mercenaries to tiny bloody shreds in a vicious rage for interrupting her mid-coitus with the princess. And the Lich... she truly claimed to have defeated the Lich? Perhaps she was Evil enough to manage his daughter in a way that befit the princess of the Fire Kingdom after all.

But it was too late to claim he had misjudged her, too late to apologise and speak to her with the dignity that should be afforded visiting royalty on official business. The Vampire Queen was swooping away with her newly claimed daughter, pulling Flambo in her wake. That was an intelligent move; Flambo would have been a dead man if she hadn't taken him.

Belatedly, the Flame King wondered if Princess Bubblegum knew that her pet vampire was screwing with her plans. He couldn't imagine she'd be thrilled, she'd more or less forced him to lock Phoebe in the lamp in the first place. He should have just killed the child when he had the chance, instead of letting that damned pink sugar woman talk him into keeping her.

...

Back in the palace Flambo paced anxiously.

"Look," he started, not sure exactly what he wanted to say but certain he had to say something or he might explode. "Just... just look. Listen. Look. Okay? I didn't like living under the Flame King's rule anyway and I'm grateful you rescued me and all because I would have been executed for helping you, not that I really did anything you know, but you can't just steal a royal baby!" he threw his hands up in the air, frustrated, why wasn't the infuriating woman listening to him? She couldn't just waltz into Flame King's throne room and steal the princess, the fire army would burn their way into the palace by sundown and they'd all be turned to ashes!

At first he thought Marceline hadn't heard him; she was hovering in the darkened nursery holding Phoebe, feeding her little chunks of the coal that Flambo had swiped on his way out of the Kingdom. But then she looked up and smiled disarmingly at him before replying. Her face was soft and tender again behind the flickering Flame Shield, nothing like the awful terror she'd been when confronting the Flame King.

"Relax, Flambo. What I did was perfectly legal and your former monarch knows it. There was a law passed. A long time ago there was a- well, a little girl. And her father was a sort of king and he tried to use her for his own agenda. Once the rest of the Ooo royalty found out there was a treaty signed; if a childless monarch wanted to adopt a prince or princess who's own parents were unwilling or unable to raise them in a manner befitting a royal child then their birth parents could not refuse to allow them to be at the very least fostered in another Kingdom. That way no princess could ever be hurt by their parent the way that little girl had been. It was all they could do once she'd grown up, they couldn't undo the years of loneliness but they could prevent it happening to anyone else. It didn't protect children that weren't born royal but that's up to each Kingdom to agree by their own laws; this is an international treaty. If the Flame King wants to break that treaty he'll need to go to war with every other Kingdom in Ooo and if he wants to challenge my right to claim his daughter he'll need to bring it before the grand meeting of Ooo royalty himself. And now that I have you as my star witness he doesn't stand a chance."

It sounded so twisted it almost made sense. So typical of the Royals and their self centred thinking. They had made sure none of their own could ever again be victims of neglect or child abuse but had left the provisions for their own subjects up to local law? Typical royalty.

And who was the neglected princess that the law had been enacted in the name of? Would she had approved of her law being distorted and abused by the Vampire Queen? Distantly he hoped that another royal family had adopted that little girl and raised her well; child abuse left him cold and that was the worst possible thing for a fire elemental to feel. He'd always hated what they'd had to do for Phoebe but the good of the Kingdom had depended on containing her, not to mention her life.

"But you're twisting the law! You're not really childless, everyone knows that! And vampires don't need heirs, not in the dying-and-passing-on-the-throne kind of way! If the Flame King wants to contest your fostering-"

"He won't. I saw the way his flames shivered when I mentioned the Lich. He's not going to come after me in a rush. And if he does and the whole thing gets dragged before Ooo royalty then what's he going to say? That yes ok he neglected and imprisoned his daughter but I was on a technicality when I released her? So then the royals will consult and decided that maybe I should have custody, maybe not, but either way he definitely shouldn't. He stands to win nothing by contesting me and can only hope to anger me further, maybe even push me into hurting him. He's scared of me, Flambo."

And really, he could see absolutely no point in arguing. Marceline was a force to be reckoned with when she put her mind to something and she had put her mind to protecting little Princess Phoebe, apparently. Flambo had a strange feeling that the Flame King was probably thinking exactly the same thing at that exact same moment.

"Flambo." Marceline said slowly, a thoughtful look stealing across her face. "I meant what I asked you in the Flame King's throne room. Why didn't you just put the Flame Shield on her, instead of on me?"

His eyes widened. Why hadn't he thought of that?

...

It was dark when Bonnibel arrived back at the candy palace, but she knew Marceline would still be up. Probably had just gotten up, actually. She still slipped back to being nocturnal when there was no pressing need to be up through the day, although Bonnie appreciated the effort she was making to adjust her schedule to spend time with with the family through the daylight hours.

She was looking forward to spending some quality time with her lover after the horror of Lemongrab's birthday party. He'd screamed at her pretty much nonstop from the moment she'd arrived and he'd tried to make her run a sack race with him. There'd only been the two of them there and he pretty obviously detested her so it made absolutely no sense. It was infuriating but it was over now for another year, thank Grod.

Sighing tiredly as she dismounted from The Morrow and let him fly back to his perch she pushed the balcony doors open, noticing that while there was a light on waiting for her it was only one of the small bedside lamps, not enough to properly illuminate the whole room. That was odd; Marcy could see perfectly well in the dark but she generally used normal lights when she was expecting non-vampire company.

Bonnie looked around for Marceline and spotted her sitting in a low chair in the darkest part of the room. Her face was lit oddly by a flickering blue light that made her look even paler than usual and for a moment she wondered why Marceline was nursing a bundle of her angry blue flames. Then she drew closer and could see more clearly what the vampire was holding. Bonnie's heart thudded painfully in her chest, suddenly it was difficult to breath. Deep down somewhere she'd always know they'd have to address what she'd done sooner or later. She'd just hoped it would be years from now.

"I invoked the Fostership Law. Flame King can't contest; I brought Flambo as a witness and technically I'm childless until the legal paperwork for Finn and the adoption paperwork for Jake arrive. I understand if this is a deal breaker for you but I'm not giving her back." Marceline said softly, careful not to wake the slumbering flame baby in her arms.

For a long moment Bonnibel didn't reply, just stared and thought hard. She was running through everything she'd done, all her reasons for acting the way she had. They all seemed pretty feeble now, when she was staring at the little girl curled trustingly into her lover's arms.

"I didn't see any other way to prevent her father from just killing her outright. I knew it wasn't my finest hour but at the time; _Grod_ , Marcy! You'd just fucking _left me_ and thinking straight was so hard! I didn't care what happened to myself, I didn't care about anything. And I realize now what a poor defence that is. But the Flame King had already tried to kill her once, he sent her here to wander the forests until she died. It was actually the first time I left my rooms after you walked out on me, I went to see what all the smoke on the horizon was about. And I didn't know what to do with her, I didn't even think about Fostership! I couldn't look after myself, how could I have adopted a baby?"

Bonnie let the words flow like pus from a wound, running out of her like poison until she was empty and hollow. She'd sat down at some point, head in her hands and staring hopelessly at her feet.

This was it; things had been too perfect and now she was going to lose Marceline again. Because she'd been stupid and made a bad choice, then when she'd not been stupid anymore she hadn't gone back to correct it. Guilt twisted in her stomach; if Marcy hadn't intervened how long would the tiny princess have been in her lamp? Five years? Ten? Perhaps for the rest of her miserable life. Certainly for the rest of her father's life.

It was physically painful to contemplate her actions now that Bonnibel was thinking properly again; yes she had meant to protect the little girl but there were a million better ways. She'd never even considered the Fostership Laws, and weren't they her own creation specifically to stop children being used by their parents the way Marceline had been? Bonnie hung her head in shame, letting the weight of it all crush down onto her.

She jumped a little when the cool hands fell to rest on her shoulders then pulled her into a rough hug. Marcy had but the baby down carefully on her seat and drifted over to where Bonnibel sat in despair, letting her long arms wrap around her lover's shoulders and rubbing soothing circles onto her back.

"I don't hate you, love. I was so angry when I found out. I maybe did hate you for a couple of minutes, but then I used my new found responsible adult skills and tried to think about it from your point of view. You didn't let her father hurt her, you tried to do the best thing you could. It was a cold thing to do, but you were a cold person then. And that's my fault; my constant jealousy and inability to trust you, I turned you into that. So I'm sorry too. But she's our responsibility now, or I should say she's my responsibility since I invoked the law. If you still want me then you have to accept that she's part of the package now, too." Marceline murmured into her ear.

It didn't even require any thought, despite her grief and the crippling guilt and shame, to make a decision about that.

"I still want you! Glob Marcy, I don't think I can live without you! When you went away I felt like I was just separated from the whole world by some grey web that clung to me all the time, like I was dead inside and nobody could see. I stopped being able to feel, I couldn't trust my own judgement anymore. And I got used to living like that, dead and cold inside, pretending to feel emotions because people expected me to. I can't go back to that now, once you came back it was like I came back to life. And I know it's a lot to put on a person, than you're the only thing keeping me from turning into some cold tyrant. But there it is, it's the truth. I love you more than I love the rest of the world put together, more than I love my Kingdom, more than I love my people. Certainly more than I love myself. So if loving you means loving another baby that you want to bring into our family then yes I will love her too, she'll be the most loved daughter I could ever imagine. If she can ever forgive me, if you can."

And again her words ran dry, she'd exhausted her well of guilt and emotion for now. Marceline just held her tighter.

"I don't know how to be me without you." Marcy whispered eventually against her princess' hair. "So maybe we're both broken, and we need each other to be whole. And I want us to be a family. You, me, Finn and Jake. And Phoebe. All five of us, because you're the people I love. My family. Of course I forgive you, I forgave you before I'd even gotten back home. And she'll forgive you too, you're her Mama now. You saved her life."

Her words were so sweet, so loving and so completely undeserved that Bonnie couldn't hold back her tears any more. She sat for a long time crying herself dry into Marceline's shirt, quietly so as not to disturb her new daughter. Eventually, when the last of her sniffles had subsided and she blearily looked up into her vampire's gentle eyes she tried a watery smile and found that it didn't immediately slide off her face like she'd expected.

"Come on you, you're exhausted. Bed, and you can tell me all about the amazing Lemongrab Fiesta tomorrow. Let's put this little cutie down in the nursery." Marcy said softly, helping her to her feet and tenderly picking up the still fast asleep little girl. To her surprise, Marceline immediately placed the baby into Bonnie's arms; Phoebe wriggled a little then settled back down with a breathy sigh, snuggling into the cradle formed by her forearms with a fiery thumb in her mouth.

"Why is she not burning me? Why is she blue?" Bonnie whispered, confused.

"Flambo cast a Flame Shield spell on her. It contains her fire within her body; she can't burn anyone. It's not permanent but we were hoping you could science it and keep it from failing until she's old enough to control her temperature." Marcy whispered back, drifting down the corridor towards the nursery ahead of her. Bonnie nodded, already thinking of ways that she could try to extend the Flame Shield. She didn't think it would be too hard.

She placed the little girl into an empty cradle that had mysteriously appeared in the corner of the room, brushing soft pink finger tips against her gently flickering blue cheek.

"Phoebe is such a beautiful name." she murmured softly, then bent to kiss her new daughter''s forehead lightly before backing out of the room.

In the morning they would introduce the boys to their new sister, they would finalise all the adoption arrangements and make their family perfectly legal, finalise their wedding arrangements so they could be joined as quickly as possible. But for now they would sleep, without any secrets between them or threats hanging over them.


	25. Chapter 25

**Epilogue. Again thank you so much for reading to the very end, you guys are amazing. I'll be posting the sequel as soon as I get chance, I hope you enjoy that too. Much love to you all!**

* * *

They looked at her expectantly and she looked back, fighting to keep a smile off her face.

"Well?" Jake asked after a long moment. "Then what happened?"

"You know what happened. We got married and formalised the adoption paperwork and raised you. We taught you to read and write and play music, we took you on holidays and picnics and nature walks. You grew bigger and bigger and one day you came and asked me to tell you about everything that happened when you were just little babies. You know, regular family stuff. It wouldn't make a very interesting story."

Marceline crossed her arms and gazed back at him with a small smile on her lips. Jake nodded back, thoughtful.

"But how did we get our pendants?" he asked.

"Also not a very interesting story. Your Mama made them just before our wedding, so you'd be safe from mind control if the Lich ever came back. And because it's traditional for members of Ooo royalty to wear gems, and she wanted you to have one to match hers. I could have worn one but I'm too awesome to be mind controlled anyway so I don't need it." she replied.

"Ha! No! You're wearing a blue gem in your ring!" Phoebe squealed excitedly, pointing at her Mom's left hand.

"You got me! Good catch, Firefly. My engagement ring is actally a Royal Gem." Marceline replied with a huge smile, terribly proud of her observant daughter.

"What happened to my father?" Finn asked quietly, drawing their eyes to him.

Marceline felt her smile fade, they never had tracked the human who'd been travelling with Finn.

"We just don't know, darling. The demon who attacked Jake's parents said they killed him, we don't know more than that. There was never a body found but you're old enough to know now that that doesn't mean someone can't be dead. Do you... wish you had a father?" she asked him carefully.

To Marceline's intense relief Finn shook his head no, offering her a warm smile.

"You're like having the best bits of a Dad and a Mom all together at once." he replied brightly. "Like, you tell awful jokes, you taught me how to cook and build stuff, you do Dad things too. Anyway, if my father was still alive I'd live with him and not here being a prince and I like it here."

She grinned widely again, it was difficult to argue with logic like that.

"Mama were you really gonna let Mom call Finn 'Romulus Hercules'?" Phoebe yelled towards the study door. After a couple of moments Bonnie poked her head out, pen stuck haphazardly into the gummy hair tucked behind one ear.

"I don't remember. Were we going to call Finn anything but Finn?"

She crossed the room and came to sit with the rest of the family on the bed, rolling her shoulders tiredly and shooting Marceline a grateful smile when she reached over to rub the cramp out of her aching back.

"Why do you ask anyway? Did I miss something?"

Her eyes narrowed in suspicion as she surveyed them all, four identically innocent faces beaming back at her. Marceline laughed first and then they were all giggling at her stern expression. It was impossible to keep glaring at them so she gave in and smiled along too; stretching out by her pillows and letting her wife's hands slide across her shoulders some more. Marcy leaned over to fill her on what she'd missed.

"We got to talking about what happened when these guys were babies. They took it pretty well, Phoebe especially liked the part where I was dead and Olgar sang a prayer for me."

"He's so weird." Phoebe chimed in with her face wrinkled up. "Weird and funny though. He always gives me the best birthday presents." Her brothers glared; Olgar had gotten Phoebe an orphaned fire wolf puppy that Flambo had been coerced into spelling not to burn the palace down and the boys were just dying of jealousy. Billy and Eagle made pretty awesome godparents for them but Olgar always brought the best presents.

"And they were really well behaved and mature about the whole thing, even the slightly naughty bits." Marceline continued over Finn and Jake's identical glares, distracting them back to the story.

Bonnie opened her mouth to reply but Phoebe beat her to it again, making her blush fiercely.

"Mom said you guys er, _got phyicaaaaaal_ , and that's how you ended up getting back together. She told us not to make a habit of solving arguments with our future spouses like that but it worked that one time and that we weren't allowed any more details than that because it's private and personal. I didn't want any more details, it's way gross! But I'm glad you got back together, you both suck when you're not talking."

She nodded wisely and then grinned at the varying expressions of horror and embarrassment on her mothers' faces.

"How did you even do that though? You're both girls." Finn piped up, blushing deeply but determined not to be outdone by his sister. Marceline caught a look from her wife that expressly told her that the time was fast arriving for The Talk and she had just volunteered to handle it herself. Yeah, she'd really walked into that one.

"You're so distasteful, Marceline." Bonnie muttered. Marcy shrugged back, she had promised to answer anything and Finn had asked how they ended up back together. She'd glossed over as much as possible but the basic details were undeniable; if he didn't know at the age of eleven that his parents' relationship was sexual in nature then frankly that would be a bit weird. Besides after reliving all of that The Talk suddenly didn't seem too scary after all.

"Mama, you really bit your own hand off to escape the demons?"

They both turned relieved gazes on their oldest son, he always had excellent timing and was a pro at steering conversations away from dangerous waters. Jake gave them the barest hint of a smile, but he was clearly still bothered by the gruesome details.

"Yes, I really did." she replied simply, holding up her arm and shaking the sleeve away to show the shallow scar that ran all the way around the wrist. It still ached a little sometimes but she'd healed very well all things considered.

"I didn't know what they had planned for me but I knew it wouldn't be anything good. And I knew that they must have taken me for a reason and that reason was most likely as a distraction. The only thing I could think was that they were going to do something to you while your Mom was out searching for me, and I refused to let them use me like that. So I bit my hand off because there was no other way I could get away and I wasn't going to let anyone hurt my family. I was pretty sure I'd be able to get it sewn back on anyway."

Jake nodded slowly, eyes a little shadowed and disturbed. He understood more than Finn and Phoebe, despite being the same biological age Dogs matured faster. Jake was over the worst throes of puberty already and fast approaching adulthood. It was almost scary, how quickly their boy was growing.

"Weren't you scared?" he asked quietly after a moment's thought.

"Oh sweetie, I was terrified. I'd never been so scared in all my life. That cat demon could easily have killed me and I knew how badly she wanted to. But I had my family to think about, I needed to come home for you guys. So I pushed the fear away and concentrated on getting free and getting home."

He nodded again, thoughtful, then perked up after a second, having hit on another topic.

"So if Finn was gonna be Romulus Hercules what were you gonna call me?" he asked with a small grin.

"You were always our Jacob." Bonnie replied, reaching over and smoothing the soft yellow fur on his head. "It was the name your birth parents chose for you, and it would be a dishonour to their sacrifice to mess with that. The same applies to you two as well." she added, casting a glance and Finn and Phoebe. "We are a family and you belong with us but that doesn't mean you don't have ties to anyone else."

The children nodded, they'd heard that before. Their mothers had been careful from the time they were just little babies that they were always aware of and comfortable with their identities, that they knew that 'adopted' didn't mean loved any less, just linked to other people too.

"They're still your families, just as much as we are. Jake, both your birth parents gave their lives to look after you. Jermaine will always be your brother, every bit as much as Finn is. And Phoebe," she reached over to her fiery daughter and stroked the pale blue flames of her hair, "sometimes Dads don't always know what's best for their daughters. They can let fear get the better of them. It doesn't mean that once you're bigger you can't try to reconnect with them but some people who are physically capable of producing children just aren't emotionally equipped to raise them. Your Dad was scared and he acted selfishly. Dads aren't always perfect, no matter how much we want them to be. Or mothers, for that matter."

Phoebe nodded and hugged her back tightly. She tilted her head up to whisper in Bonnie''s ear.

"I'm glad you guys are my Moms."

"Me too, Firefly."

The dinner bell sounded and Marcy looked around, surprised. It had gotten later in the evening than she'd reckoned, she'd lost her sense of day and night cycles when the kids had still been in diapers and it had never really come back, she'd mostly given up on being nocturnal.

Dinner and then maybe she'd go flying, it'd been a little while and she missed the feeling of air whipping through her hair. Perhaps she'd trick Bonnie into joining her, steal a few kisses up above the clouds. She grinned, that sounded like a really good plan.

She floated a little higher and stretched her limbs. Phoebe had already slunk back across the bed and was pulling Finn's hair to cover her emotional moment; they engaged in a brief but friendly wrestling match that ended in them both slipping onto the floor with a dull thud.

"Come on guys, you don't want Peppermint to pull chunks out of himself because you're late." Bonnie said, getting to her feet and helping Finn and Phoebe up off the floor.

They sloped out of the room, Jake taking off at a run and challenging his brother and sister to race him to the dining hall. They sprinted after him yelling as they went.

"You know," Bonnie murmured in a low thoughtful voice as they left the bedroom hand in hand, "before these three came along I never ever thought you'd grow up. Not all the way, not permanently. Billy once told me that vampires are weird and they can change after all even when they seem to stay the same, I guess he was right."

Marceline stuck her forked tongue out at her wife and grinned, making Bonnie giggle into her hand.

"Who says I've grown up?" she replied, spinning upside down in the air and wiggling her eyebrows suggestively, blocking Bonnie's way. "Besides, before these three came along I never ever thought you'd unwind and take that enormous responsibility stick out of your- hey!" she broke off as Bonnie ducked around her, grinning and sprinting after the children.

"No use running, Bonnibel! I know where you live!" Marcy yelled, grinning herself as she swooped off down the corridor in pursuit, following the sounds of her family's laughter.


End file.
